The New Girl
by xoxoeosvugirl
Summary: Olivia Benson is a new student at Constance Billard/St. Jude's on the Upper East Side and befriends Jenny Humphrey and Elliot Stabler, but fitting in isn't as easy as it looks. Very AU. E/O! The first in the OMSVU series. Moved to crossovers. FINALLY DONE
1. Mean Girls

Constance Billard School

February 21, 2009

9:31 A.M

Olivia Benson, age sixteen (but only by four days!) stood at the gates of Constance Billard School for Girls/St. Jude's School For Boys on the Upper East Side, Target tote in hand. She was clearly out of place in her new school. Everyone else wore designer clothes, while Olivia was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and ballet flats a la Payless. She bit her lip as she searched the crowd for a friendly face. But so far, everyone was either glaring at her for committing a fashion faux pas, or texting and ignoring her.

Across the courtyard, fellow sophomores Jenny Humphrey and Eric van der Woodsen sat at a stone table, talking. "They looked friendly enough," Olivia thought. "Why not?"

"Hi, I'm Olivia Benson," she introduced herself. Jenny looked up.

"Hi!" she exclaimed. "I'm Jenny!"

"I'm Eric," Eric said. "Are you new?"

"Um, yeah," Olivia said. "I'm Olivia-wait, I already said that! Sorry!" Jenny giggled.

"No prob," Jenny said. "We're sophomores. What grade are you in?"

Olivia grinned. "Same. Do you know where I can get my class schedule?"

"Headmistress Queller's office. We'll take you," Eric said.

She scrunched up her nose. "Headmistress Queller? That sounds like a name from some seventeenth century British soap opera."

"No, just a twenty first century Upper East Side school," Eric said. They all laughed.

Olivia looked at a slightly cute boy sitting with a girl with red hair. "Who's that?" she asked.

"Elliot Stabler," Jenny said, rolling her eyes. "He's like, public enemy number one around here."

"Why?" Olivia asked in disbelief. "He looks perfectly fine!" _Really, perfectly fine. _

"Don't believe what you see," Eric said, pointing to the girl. "He doesn't date. Ever. Last year, he turned down Blair Waldorf."

"Who's she?" she asked.

"She's a senior, and only the bitchiest, most popular girl in the school," Jenny said. "She, like, ruined my rep last year. She separates girls into two groups. Projects and victims. The girls who Blair wants to turn into mini-Blair drones become projects, and anyone who challenges her, is a victim. I was a project last year. Can you believe it?"

"That's so mean," Olivia murmured. Then she glared. "Where is she?"

"Olivia, you don't want to confront her," Eric warned. "But she's over there-" He pointed to Blair Waldorf, a brunette girl in a Victorian-style top, as well as Penelope, Kati, Hazel, and Nelly, her partners in crime. Right now they were picking on some girl named Kelsey for wearing tights and no pants.

"Kelsey, Kelsey, Kelsey. How many times do we have to warn you?" Blair said. "As one of the girls of the steps, you represent Constance royalty."

Kelsey wiped away a tear. "I didn't realize-"

"THAT TIGHTS ARE NOT PANTS?" Blair shouted. "Honestly!"

"What are you doing?" Olivia demanded.

Blair and her friends glared at her. "Excuse me, honey," Penelope said in a fake-sweet voice, "The custodian's office is in the back."

Olivia put her hands on her hips. Eric and Jenny watched in disbelief.

"Oh, no," Jenny groaned. "What is she doing?"

"Committing social suicide on her first day," Eric said.

"Actually, I'm Olivia Benson, and I'm a sophomore. I'm new here."

"And you're going now," Penelope said, shoving her out of the way.

"Uh, no, I'm not!" Olivia snapped. "I heard what you did to Elliot Stabler! And Jenny Humphrey! Why do you have to hurt people to make friends? You're so mean!"

Blair gaped.

"Oh, no she didn't," Kati said.

Blair smirked. "Look, Olivia. No matter how jealous you are, I'll still be Queen B, and you'll always be the new girl. So if you want to spend your life hanging out with the Elliot Stablers and Little Js of the world, that's fine by me. But take it from me, O. Unless you want to end up like Jenny Humphrey, you'll stay out of my way."

"We'll just see about that," Olivia said, before turning on her heels and walking away.

"Omigod!" Jenny said. "How did you do that and get out of it alive?"

"I don't know," Olivia admitted. "But I don't like bullies. We should go get my schedule before the bell rings."

*****

"Beginner's Computer Programming?!?" Olivia shrieked. "My mom must be trying to sign me up for all the lamest classes! I want to be a detective, not a member of the Geek Squad!"

Eric hummed the tune to the Pink Panther.

"Hey, look on the bright side. We have homeroom together. And AP American History," Jenny said. "And we both have free period first and seventh."

"Are you guys allowed to go off campus for lunch and free period?" she asked. Jenny nodded. "You can go to lunch with us," Jenny offered. "We usually go to Gabrielle's."

"That's awesome!" Olivia said. "Hey, do you know who Elliot has for homeroom."

"Omigod," Jenny said. "Do you like him?"

Olivia blushed and nodded. "Well, he's cute...that's a plus."

"I think he has Ms. Morris for homeroom too," Jenny said. "I don't know. We're not really friends. But I'm in biology with Casey Novak, the closest thing he has to a friend."

"Who's she?" Olivia asked.

"The redhead. Don't worry, Elliot doesn't date. Sorry, Olivia," Eric continued.

"You can call me Livvy. And by my experiences, no guy doesn't date," she said slyly.

Jenny smiled. "I still can't believe you got out of a confrontation with Blair Waldorf!" All of a sudden, Jenny, Eric and Olivia's cell phones started buzzing. "Or not..."

"What's this?" Olivia asked, waving her silver Razr in the air. "Gossip Girl blast number eight sixty..." she read.

"Uh oh," Eric said. "'Spotted: New girl Olivia confronting B in the courtyard. Watch out Blair, looks like you've just met your match. I'm putting out an APB: There's a new bitch in town.'"

"What's that?" she asked. "How come there's _two _new girls named Olivia."

"Livvy," Jenny said. "They're talking about you. Here, there's this website called Gossip Girl. People send the website pictures and tips, and then she reports on them. She's like this anonymous blogger girl."

"But isn't that illegal?" Olivia sputtered. "She can't do that!"

"Relax," Eric said. "We'll get her back."

"Ugh, this was a total bust. I should have just gone to the public school nearby, but my mom wanted me to have a better life than she did," she said, rolling her eyes. "I don't belong here. This place is filled with bitches and psychos!"

"Don't worry!" Jenny said. "I've been through it all. And on the bright side, only two years till graduation! Whoo!" She cheered and high fived Eric. "I have a DIY calendar in my room. I gotta go." She started walking away.

"Hey, don't you have free?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, but I have to ask Mr. Pizer a question. Be right back!"

"Great," Olivia mumbled. "Looks like it's just me and me."

"What did you say?" a guy asked.

Olivia turned around and saw Elliot. "What?" she asked.

"Hey, I saw you with Eric van der Woodsen and that Jenny girl. Are you new? I'm Elliot."

"I know. I mean, I'm Olivia. Yeah, I'm new," Olivia sputtered. "I'm a sophomore."

"Me too," Elliot said. He pulled out his phone. "Hey, I saw the Gossip Girl blast. But don't worry, I don't think you're a bitch. But it takes serious guts to stand up to Blair Waldorf. I should know."

She smiled. "Well, I don't like people who hurt other people. In fact, when I get out of this place I want to be a detective."

"Really? Me too!" Elliot exclaimed. "How weird would it be if we were partners?"

"I think that would be cool! And we'd arrest all the people like Blair Waldorf." Olivia giggled.

"What about Blair?" Penelope, one of the Blair Drones, said, standing next to Olivia. She sneered. "Oh, how cute. The loser and the new girl." She grabbed Olivia's bag.

"Hey! Stop that!" Olivia snapped.

"You know what I can't believe? This handbag. It looks like it belongs in the trash. Which is probably where you got it from," Penelope continued. She started to dump Olivia's stuff on the floor.

"Don't!"

"Oh, sorry." Penelope sneered. "You might have stuff in there that's important."

"Seriously, Penelope, knock it off," Elliot insisted. "What did Olivia ever do to you?"

"You seriously have to ask?" Penelope snapped.

"Well, leave her alone!"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Ooooh, I'm scared." Then she sauntered off. Olivia started to pick her stuff off the floor.

"Oh, I'll get it." Elliot picked up her books.

"Thanks," Olivia said. "Sorry. She is a total bitch."

"Tell me about it," Elliot said. "And she wonders why I won't go out with her."

The bell rang.

"Hey, wanna walk me to my next class?" Olivia suggested. Elliot looked at her schedule. "You have free period."

"So?" Olivia said. "You can walk me to the courtyard."

"Sure," Elliot said. "Why not?"

"So, what do you guys usually do around here? Go to all the clubs with your super-rich Upper East Side friends?" Olivia aksed casually.

Elliot shook his head. "I live on the West Side. I'm on a partial scholarship. And anyway, I don't really have that many friends around here. I mean, Casey Novak, John Munch, and Alex Cabot are the only people I really hang out with around here."

"Munch? That's his last name?" she burst out laughing. "Sorry. It's just kind of funny. I mean, before I moved here, I never heard of half the names around here. Even Blair Waldorf is unusual enough."

"Well, it could be worse. Did you hear about the Olympic skier-"

"That named herself Pikabu?" Olivia continued. "Yeah! So weird."

"We should totally hang out later. What are you doing for lunch?" Elliot asked.

"Um, I think going to that place Gabrielle's with Jenny and Eric," Olivia said. "Sorry. Want to do something tomorrow?"

"Of course," Elliot said. "Around here, you don't get much of a chance to hang out with people that are nice _and _pretty." He grinned. "Call me?"

"Sure," Olivia said. "See ya!"


	2. How to Get a Guy in Two Hours

*****

"Name's Olivia Benson, 3.8 GPA. Transferred from Monroe Public School," Blair read from Olivia's file.

"Blair, give this girl a rest," Serena van der Woodsen snapped. Serena was Blair's best friend, but she often got fed up with Blair's bitchiness. "So she was talking to that Elliot kid. Big deal! Why do you want to go out with a sophomore so much anyway?"

"It's not just that!" Blair insisted. "Elliot turned me down. Me! True, I lost a bet, but what idiot would turn me down? And a week later, I saw him talking to _Casey Novak. _Plus, Olivia had the nerve to yell at me about it. Like it's her business."

"Well, she has a point," Serena said. "You are kind of a bitch. And how bad could Olivia be? She looks nice."

Blair smirked. "Looks can be decieving, S. Remember Amanda?"

"That was different. And it's not like Olivia's chasing after Dan. If she wants to go out with Elliot, why do you even care?"

"Because, naive S," Blair started, rolling her eyes. "You know how I feel about people threatening the social order."

"Look, B, I'm late for history. Do whatever you want, but I'm not getting involved," Serena said. "Bye."

"She's gotta be on drugs," Hazel murmured.

"Who? Serena?" Blair demanded.

"No," Hazel said. She pointed to where Olivia was talking with Elliot. "Look!"

"Omigod," Blair said. "She's asking for it." Blair pulled out her cell phone and took a picture of the pair. "It's time to take this up a notch."

Later

Jenny Humphrey's Apartment

"Dan?" Jenny shouted. Nobody answered. "Dad? Hellooooo? Anybody home?" Nobody responded.

"Wow, your dad has a lot of records," Olivia said, looking at a Ramones album.

Jenny grinned. "Yeah. Well, he's obsessed with music. In fact, he wants to be a musician. He's also a great cook. You'll see when he gets home."

"He won't mind you having someone over?" Olivia asked.

Jenny shook his head. "To Dad, the more the merrier. Beware, he might try to get you to sing along to his lame 80's music." Olivia giggled.

"Jenny? You home?" Dan Humphrey shouted, walking into the room.

"Hey, Dan. You don't need to scream, it's not like we have, like, a Bill Gates house," Jenny said, rolling his eyes.

"Hi, Jen." Dan looked at Olivia. "Hi. Who are you?"

"Olivia Benson. I'm new at Constance, and today Jenny showed me around," Olivia said shyly. "You're Dan, right?"

Dan nodded. "Well, just wait until Dad comes home. He'll probably make you sing along to lame 80's music."

"I already warned her," Jenny said.

"Wow, did you make these?" she asked, looking at Jenny's dresses. "I love them!"

Jenny nodded. Dan pointed to the newspaper clipping on the fridge. "Jenny had a guerilla fashion show at the Palace last month."

"Omigod, these are amazing!" Olivia exclaimed. "I like the green one."

"Thanks!" Jenny said. "Hey, speaking of dresses, what are you wearing to the Valentine's Day semiformal? It's next week!"

"There's a dance next week?" Olivia asked.

"Yep!" Jenny said.

Olivia gulped. Her entire girly wardrobe consisted of:

a) One green Old Navy beach cover-up dress

b) One jean skirt

c) A pink blouse from Charlotte Russe that made her look like a stripper (it was on sale!)

d) Jeans with embroidered flowers on the pockets

"I am so dead," Olivia half-joked. "There's no way I can face Blair Waldorf in an Old Navy cover up."

Jenny rolled her eyes playfully. "Don't worry, you can have one of mine."

"Seriously?" Olivia asked. "Thank you so much!" Of course, she immediately ran for the green one.

"Are you going with Elliot?" Jenny asked.

Olivia shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, he asked me out to lunch...but doesn't he like that girl Casey?"

"He asked you out? Omigod Liv, you are so lucky! Ask him to the dance!" Jenny insisted.

"Now?" she asked. Jenny grabbed Olivia's cell and dialed Elliot's number.

_"Hello?"_ Elliot answered.

"Hi, Elliot Stabler, this is Jenny Humphrey. We have bio together, remember?" Jenny started.

_"Oh, hi Jenny." _

"Anyway, you know Olivia Benson?"

_"The new girl? Yeah, we talked today."_

Olivia put her face in her hands. "Omigod. This is so embarrasing! Jenny, give me the phone!"

"Anyway, you guys are going to the dance together! Livvy's wearing one of my dresses from my fashion show and you're gonna pick her up at eight! Bye!" Jenny snapped the phone shut and put it down. "Ta daaaah!

"I cannot believe you did that!" Olivia said. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Jeez, Olivia, good thing you're not president or everything would be illegal!" Jenny joked. "You are going to the dance with Elliot and that is final!"

"Fine," Olivia sighed. "I'm gonna try on the dress, but don't laugh." Olivia ran into the bathroom with Jenny's dress.

"How does it look?" Olivia asked, twirling around.

"That dress is awesome! You are so wearing it."

"Thanks," Olivia said. Her phone beeped.

"It's Elliot," Jenny said, making a kissy face. She started reading it. "'Hey Liv...sorry that J was so pushy!!!! LOL!' I am so not pushy! 'Anyway, I think we should go 2 the dance 2gether. -El.' Awww, that is so sweet. But I'm so texting him back. 'Hey Elliot! This is Jenny and I am so not pushy!!!! U and O are cute 2gether!!! XOXO J'"

"Do you think he likes you?" Jenny asked. Olivia shrugged.

"Oh, come on!" Jenny said. "He texted you, asked you out, invited you to the dance, and you're not sure if he likes you? The answer is Y-E-S, Olivia!"

"Okay, maybe he does," Olivia said. "But what about Blair?"

Jenny sighed. "Forget about her! If you want to date Elliot, just do it!"

Olivia's phone beeped.

"Is it Elliot?" Jenny asked.

"No...it's Gossip Girl." Jenny checked her phone.

"HO-LIVIA" was the headline, followed by a picture of Olivia and Elliot.

"Who would have thought that new girl Olivia would have snagged Mr. Unattainable on her first day? She must be giving him something in return, if you know what I mean. You know you love me! XOXO, Gossip Girl."

"Okay, that's it," Olivia snapped. "This means war."

"Liv, what are you going to do?" Jenny sighed. "Seriously, you don't want to piss off Blair Waldorf."

Olivia looked Jenny in the eye. "Well, I already did that so what do I have to lose?"

"Uh, everything?"

"DAN!" Olivia screamed. "Do you think I should diss Blair on Gossip Girl? Jenny doesn't think I should, but she dissed me twice so it's only fair. Right?"

Dan looked from Jenny to Olivia. "Um..."

"Because it's totally illegal! What if, like, a pedophile saw that?" Olivia snapped.

"What?" Dan said, chuckling.

"I could get raped or killed! That's endangering the welfare of a minor!" Olivia screamed.

Dan rolled his eyes. "Okay, I am so glad I'm not a girl. Why don't you two just flip a coin or something?"

"Well, what does Sedrick think?" Jenny teased, referring to Dan's Cabbage Patch Kid.

"Who's Sedrick? Do you have another brother?" Olivia asked.

Jenny shook her head. "No, Sedrick is Dan's Cabbage Patch doll."

"I used to have one of those," Olivia said. "Her name was Margaret Anne Benson. But I left her on a plane when I was six."

Dan pulled out his phone. "Okay, guys, Serena's coming over in ten minutes, so if you guys can keep your teenage girly madness to your room, Jen, it would be appreciated.

"Serena who?" Olivia asked.

"Serena van der Woodsen. Eric's sister," Jenny answered, purposefully leaving out the part that she was Blair's BFF.

Olivia's eyes widened. "Omigod, Serena's coming here? She's like, my idol! I saw her in the Eleanor Waldorf show on TV and she has the best clothes!" She ran over to her bag and pulled out a Page 6 clipping of Serena and her mother Lily strolling up Fifth Avenue. "Can she sign this?"

Dan threw up his hands. "I don't know. Why don't you ask her when she gets here?"

"What time's Dad getting back from the gallery?" Jenny asked. Dan shrugged.

"Jenny, I will give you fifty dollars if you and Olivia go grab some ice cream down the street."

Jenny winked. "Are you and S gonna have a little rendezvous?"

"Jenny," Dan groaned. "Why did I have to have a little sister?"

"Because I am the only normal one in this family," Jenny responded.

*****

"I don't get it. Olivia's only been around a few days and now her and Jenny are inseperable," Eric said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, she's nice, but I don't want to hang out with her 24/7."

"Look, Olivia's new and she doesn't have that many friends yet. Why can't you just let her hang out with you until she makes her own friends? I heard she's going to the dance with Elliot Stabler anyway. And didn't I see her sitting with Elliot, Casey, Alex, and John?" Serena asked. "How bad can she be?"

"Well, she already yelled at Blair, so she's on her hit list. But that kinda drags my reputation through the mud, too, 'cause if she hangs out with us, Blair won't like us either. And her and Jenny already sort of called a truce," Eric pointed out.

"Oh, come on. Since when do you care what Blair thinks?" Serena asked, rolling his eyes. "I'm heading over to Dan's. And be nice to Olivia!" Serena reminded him, walking away.

"Hey, Eric!" Jenny said, walking by him with Olivia. "Me and Liv are going to the Ben and Jerry's. You should come!"

"Um..." Eric said. "Me and Jonathan have plans soon, I should head back."

"It doesn't take that long to eat a cup of ice cream," Olivia said. "Come on. You know you want to!"

"Well, maybe," Eric said.

"Awesome!" Jenny said. "Where's Olivia?"

"Maybe she went home," Eric said, sounding hopeful. He hadn't hung out with Jenny without Olivia around since before Olivia moved in.

"I'll take one scoop of green apple, one scoop of coffee, and one scoop of lemon sorbet," Olivia was saying to the person serving ice cream. "No, replace the green apple with peach. Never mind, green apple's good," she amended.

Jenny walked up to the counter. "I'll have a cup of green tea."

"They make green tea ice cream?" Eric asked, raising his eyebrow. "I'll have a chocolate frappe. To go."

"Oh, come on! Stay a few minutes!" Olivia pleaded.

"I really should go," Eric insisted. "Bye, guys." He took his ice cream and went out.

"What's his deal?" Olivia asked.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Yanno, he's just busy with his boyfriend."

"It's warm in here," Olivia said randomly. She took off her Abercrombie hoodie. Underneath, she was wearing the worst T-shirt Jenny had seen in her life. Actually, it was more of a conglomerate of T-shirts sewn together. Olivia's shirt was made of part of an I Heart NY shirt, a Life Is Good shirt, a silk babydoll, a flowery dress, a fleece, a Hollister T-shirt, a Monroe Middle School T-shirt, a shirt that said "Ski Bunny," and to top it all off, part of a crocheted blanket. Olivia had sewn a fuzzy scarf around the collar, and used giant felt letters to spell "Olivia Sarah Benson" across her chest, just in case it was so unfortunately lost. Even worse, Olivia had sewn a tulle ruffle around the bottom.

"This was all I could find this morning," Olivia complained, rolling her eyes. "This was my seventh grade sewing project. Of course, I can't find my favorite top, but this is the first thing I find."

"I am so sorry," Jenny said. Then she burst out laughing. "Liv, did you really need to add the scarf? And your name?"

"Mrs. Maloney-that's our sewing teacher-made us do it. That was how she kept track of them."

Jenny sighed. "Okay, I'll give you a free pass on this one. But as soon as we get back, I'm totally going to give you some of my clothes."

Olivia giggled. "Sounds awesome. Hey, if I keep wearing ugly personalized tops, can I get more of your clothes?"

"Don't push it," Jenny joked.

15 Central Park West

5:12 P.M

"So, what's your new girlfriend's name again?" Elliot Stabler's obnoxious seventeen-year-old sister, Phoebe asked. "Did you say it was Lizzie something?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Elliot protested. "And her name's Olivia. I call her Livvy."

"What about Kathy Larrabee?" Phoebe asked.

Elliot rolled his eyes. "What about her? We went to one dance last year. I haven't even talked to her since September."

"I miss Kathy," Elliot's mom said. "She was always a nice girl. What's this Olivia like?"

Elliot thought. He really didn't know much about her, except she was new, pretty, and smart. "She's cool," he said simply.

_I should call her back, _he thought. He laughed when he remembered how Jenny had asked him out for her. Jenny was hilarious sometimes. Even though they weren't really friends, Jenny was still pretty nice to talk to.

He pulled out his LG Env2 and dialed Olivia's number.

"Hey!" Olivia answered on the first ring.

"Hi, Liv," Elliot said. "So I guess we're going to the dance together."

"Guess so," Olivia said. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Hey...my obnoxious sister Phoebe wants to know about you. If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be? We played that game at camp," Elliot added.

"Hmmm," Olivia giggled. "How about...Really Good Kisser?" She laughed.

"Well, I wouldn't know, but I hope that's true," he said_, _hoping he sounded flirtatious and not desperate.

"Me, too," she sighed. "But hopefully I'll find out soon. What about you?"

Elliot thought. "One Hot Dude," he joked.

"I'm not sure about that," Olivia said, giggling. "JK."

"Well, I'll be sure to tell Phoebe you're a great kisser," Elliot joked.

"I'll be sure to tell my friends back home you're one hot dude," Olivia joked back. "See ya, El."

"You, too, Liv," he said before hanging up. He turned around and saw Phoebe standing in his doorway with one hand on her Juicy sweats-wearing hip.

"Wow, El. You guys were talking about kissing! I'm shocked. My baby brother's a playboy!" Phoebe joked, laughing.

"You were there the whole time?" Elliot groaned. Why was Phoebe so annoying?

Phoebe marched up to him, bent down, and pinched his cheeks. "Aww! Wittle Elliot's got his first girlfwiend!" she said in a baby voice. "How thweet. Wait!" She dashed into her room and returned with her pink Kodak camera. "I should totally videotape this." She pressed the video button.

"Tell me Mr. Stabler," she said in a news anchor voice. "How do you feel about having a girlfriend finally? Tell me, it's Olivia, right?"

Elliot sighed. "Go away, Phebes."

"No such luck. Anyway, from what I overheard, you guys have kissed already! How cute!" Phoebe announced.

"I hope you're not planning on putting this on YouTube," Elliot said. "Then I might have to kill you."

"Oh, come on, baby bro. Don't be such a loser," Phoebe said. "Crap! I'm out of batteries!"

"What a shame."

"Have you bought an engagement ring yet?" Phoebe pressed. "Have you set a date? Am I invited?"

"Oh, please," he said. "Now will you please leave me alone?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes and sat down in Elliot's desk chair. "Sorry, little guy." She ruffled Elliot's hair. "I'm your big sister. I'm never going away. Now tell me everything about Olivia. Start from the beginning." Elliot glared at her. "No camera," she promised. "I really want to know."

And Elliot told her everything.


	3. Because Blair Said So

Constance Billard

10:14 A.M

Blair and Serena walked down the hall as classes changed, walking past the crowds of students on their way to the courtyard, since they both had free period.

"I hate Olivia Benson so much!" Blair wailed.

Serena patted her back. "Blair, calm down. You're overreacting as usual. I saw her hanging out with Eric and Jenny at the ice cream place yesterday, and she seemed perfectly normal."

"NO! I am NOT overreacting!" she shouted. "Thanks to that bitch, now she's starting to turn people against me! I HATE people being turned against me!"

Serena rolled her eyes. "Blair, Olivia can hang out with whoever she wants to. And Elliot, Casey, Alex, and John never were your followers anyway, so it's not like she's doing anything to hurt you personally."

Blair folded her arms over her chest. "Oh, now you two are on a first-name basis."

"Blair, I've been meaning to give you this," Ms. Carr, the new English teacher, said, handing Blair a paper.

"WHAT?" Blair snapped. "A 'B'? Are you kidding me?!?"

"Blair, there's nothing wrong with getting a few B's."

"Oh, maybe to you," Blair snapped. "But I'm a Waldorf! You can just buy yourself good grades." She turned away. Serena rolled her eyes again.

"This is all Olivia's fault!" Blair shouted. "If I hadn't been thinking about that little bitch, I would have gotten an A. Now I'll never get into Yale! Ugh, speak of the devil." She glared at Olivia, who was walking with Casey Novak and Jocelyn Simms, who were both on the yearbook committee. In fact, Jocelyn was the sophomore head.

"Oh, this is Serena van der Woodsen, the senior head of the committee. Serena, this is Olivia Benson," Jocelyn said.

"Hi," Olivia squeaked. "Um, I was wondering, is it too late to join yearbook?" Blair glared at Serena.

"Go ahead," Blair said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "There are no wrong answers."

"Um, no," Serena said. "You just need to sign this form." Serena reached into a binder and pulled out a piece of paper. "We meet every Thursday during third period. Casey, are you almost done with the Highlights of the Year page? I need you to meet with the printer to confirm whether we want hardcover or softcover."

"Yeah, it's in the Yearbook folder under Constance Community on the computer. Here's the password," Casey Novak said, handing Serena a piece of paper.

"Thanks." Blair glared.

"Okay, S, whenever you're done with your charity work, meet me in the courtyard." She smirked at Olivia before walking off.

"Sorry about Blair," Serena said. "I think she's PMSing." Jocelyn snickered.

"When isn't Blair PMSing?" she said. "She should deff see a gyno."

Olivia giggled. "Thanks for letting me join, Serena."

"No problem, Olivia."

"Oh, you can call me Livvy," Olivia said. "Bye, S. Hey, do you know Dan Humphrey?"

"Yeah," Serena said. "He's my boyfriend. Why?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just I hang out with Jenny and Eric so I guess I'll see you around!" Olivia waved. "Bye!"

Casey turned to Olivia in astonishment. "You hang out with Serena?!" she asked. "That is so cool!"

Olivia shrugged. "We don't really hang out. But Jenny Humphrey and Eric, her little brother, are my friends, so I guess I'll be seeing her around. I can't wait to tell my friends Sophie and Layne back home. They, like, worship her!" She pulled out her cell phone. "Oops, I forgot. At my old school, we weren't allowed to use cell phones except during lunch. I'm still getting used to all the freedom we have here."

"Yeah, it's awesome," Jocelyn said. "Except all the homework." She rolled her eyes.

"It's not that bad," Olivia said. Frankly, she hadn't noticed. Her alchoholic, partly disfunctional mother was pretty much at work or at the bar all day, and she couldn't like, live at Jenny's house, and she didn't want to spend her whole life on the phone with Elliot, and there were only so many "Seinfeld" reruns she could stand, so she really didn't have anything else to do but study. No wonder she had almost all A's.

"Are you kidding me?" Casey said. "I was up until like, nine last night just doing homework! But that's the price I have to pay for law school."

"You want to be a lawyer?" Olivia asked. "No way, I want to be a detective!"

Jocelyn and Casey started humming the Pink Panther song.

Olivia threw her hands up. "Why does everyone keep doing that?" She giggled.

Jocelyn smirked. "Would you prefer the Get Smart theme?"

"No!" Olivia said. "I would prefer not to be branded with a detective show theme song, thank you very much." They all laughed.

"Why not? Sooner or later you're going to be one, and then you'll have to deal with even more cracks," Casey joked.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Yanno, Case, I know plenty of lawyer jokes, and trust me, you do not want me to go there."

Casey waved it off. "Oh, blah. I'm not scared of you."

"Wait, who's scared of who?" Jenny suddenly asked.

"Jenny!" Olivia shouted. "Omigod, I didn't even see you. Where are you off to?"

"My fashion design elective. What about you?"

"Swimming," Olivia said, pulling a polka dotted blue Old Navy tankini out of her bag. "I think Elliot has swimming too."

"Cool," Jenny said, walking away. "Text me!" Olivia nodded before heading down the hall to the pool.

Swimming Class

10:30 A.M

Olivia padded out into the pool area after putting her bag in a locker and tying up her hair. Most of her classmates were already there. However, she didn't recognize anyone. Except for Elliot.

"Hey!" Olivia exclaimed. "Finally, someone I know!"

"I know, right? I think I know, maybe, three of these people," Elliot said. He laughed.

"Okay, kids!" Ms. Lander, a stocky woman, shouted. Olivia jumped back. "Let's get in our lanes. Saint-Pierre, Williams, Langley, Garrison, and Michaels, lane one. Stabler, Benson, Callahan, Beaumont, and Warner, lane two." Ms. Lander continued to read names as Olivia, Elliot, a pretty African-American girl in a red bikini, a short, chubby boy, and a tall blonde girl walked over to lane two and dove in. Well, almost everyone.

"Omigod, it's COLD!" Olivia screeched. She dipped a toe into the water and immediately jumped back.

"Benson, IN THE WATER!" Ms. Lander instructed. Reluctantly, Olivia slid into the water. She started shivering.

"It's not so bad if you just jump in," the African-American girl said.

"E-e-everyone s-s-says t-t-t-that," Olivia said, teeth chattering.

"ALL RIGHT, PEOPLE! WE'RE GOING TO START OFF WITH FOUR LAPS OF FRONT CRAWL! GO!"

Olivia took off. She loved swimming.

One lap.

Two.

Three.

Four.

"GOOD JOB, BENSON!" Ms. Lander shouted, clapping. "NOW WE'RE GOING TO WORK ON DIVES."

Olivia rolled her eyes. She had learned to dive when she was five.

"BY THE END OF THE DAY, ALL OF YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO A DIVE. DIVING SKILLS AREN'T SOMETHING YOU CAN BUY ON EBAY! LINE UP!"

All of a sudden, Olivia burst out laughing. For some reason, she was reminded of a funny video Sophie had shown her. It was the Potter Puppet Pals video. The one about eBay. She sung it under her breath.

_A used...pink bathrobe_

_A rare...mint snowglobe_

_A Smurf TV tray..._

_I bought on eBay!_

Elliot chuckled. "Wow, Liv, you Monroe kids sure listen to weird music."

Olivia blushed. Had she been singing that loudly. "It's from a video my friend Sophie showed me."

"You'll have to give me the link," Elliot said. "But even though the lyrics are a bit different, you have a beautiful voice."

"Thanks! Yanno, I can sing real music too," Olivia reminded him.

"Oh yeah?" Elliot challenged.

Olivia nodded. She took a deep breath and began to sing, "Right Here" by Brandy.

_When you feel your heart's guarded_

_And you see the breaks started_

_When the clouds above parted_

_You'll be right here with me. _

"You really are a good singer," the African American girl insisted, turning around. "The most I can sing is the Star Spangled Banner. Barely."

Olivia giggled. "Me and Sophie used to be in chorus together. It was her idea, really."

After diving in, Olivia wrapped herself in a towel and went into the locker room to get changed. It was almost time for lunch. Olivia was starving.

"Olivia! Where did you go?" Elliot asked. Olivia shrugged.

"The same way I usually go," she answered.

"No, I mean, before! I turned around and you were gone!"

"I went to get changed. You were the one that dissapeared."

"No, you," Elliot insisted.

"You!" Olivia laughed. "Look, we can't have a Supreme Court trial about this, so let's go grab some lunch. I'm starving."

"Won't Jenny and Eric mind?" Elliot asked.

Olivia shrugged. "Nah, Jenny's hanging out with Liana Harris from design class, and I think Eric's a little sick of me anyway."

"Who could get sick of you?" Elliot asked. He seemed surprised. "I wouldn't."

Olivia grinned. "Aw, El, that's sweet, but what if I get sick of _you_?"

"I doubt it." Olivia walked into Gabrielle's Cafe.

"I'll take a BLT on whole wheat. No, actually, an Italian. Wait, the BLT's good. With an iced cappucino. Or a Sprite. Wait, I'll have the cappucino. Extra cream and sugar, medium please. Decaf. No, half-caf."

The sandwich lady put her hand on her hip and scowled. "Would you like the shoeshine package as well?" she snapped.

"BLT, iced cappucino," Olivia instructed.

"I'll have what she's having," Elliot joked. The lady shook her head.

"Damn Upper East Siders, think they can just order is around," she mumbled.

"Actually, we live on the West Side," Olivia corrected. "And I'm sure you're manager would love to know that you're harrasing customers. Elliot, how about we go down the street to Le Petit Pan instead?"

"Two sandwiches, coming right up," the psycho sandwich person said.

Olivia took her sandwich and sat down. Unfortunately, Penelope, Hazel, Blair, Kati, and Chuck Bass, Blair's on-again-off-again boyfriend, walked over to them.

"Um, you're kind of in our seat," Hazel snapped.

"Um, we kind of don't care," Olivia snapped back. "It doesn't have your name on it."

Blair sneered at Olivia and Elliot. "Hi, _Bensler._"

"Hi, Waldass," Elliot sneered back. Olivia burst out laughing. "Waldass? That is genius! It sounds like an old lady medication. _Oy vey, I forgot to take my Waldass!_"

"You might want to take a seat," Olivia said, glancing at the group of kids coming in. "This place fills up pretty quick."

Before leaving, Blair leaned in. "You're gonna pay for this, Benson," she snapped.

"Oooooh, I'm scared," Olivia said. But deep down, she wondered what Blair Waldorf, aka the Queen Bitch, was capable of.


	4. Me and You and Everyone We Hate

Olivia's House

3:14 PM

"Mom? I'm home!" Olivia called. Nobody answered. Great. Another afternoon home alone.

_When you feel your heart's guarded_

_And you see the brakes started_

_When the clouds above have parted_

_You'll be right here with me_

Olivia raced to grab her phone, which played "Right Here" by Brandy as its ringtone, in honor of her and Elliot. It was either that or the Potter Puppet Pals eBay song, and she was not letting the general public hear that.

INCOMING CALL: SERENA flashed on the screen. She flipped it open excitedly. Why was Serena, the coolest girl on the Upper East Side-no, the whole world-calling her, Olivia Nobody?

"Hello?" she exclaimed.

_"Hi! This is Olivia Benson, right?" _Serena asked.

"Yeah! Serena?" Olivia asked.

_"Hi, Liv! Look, I just wanted to invite you to my family's party tonight. Bring whoever you want!" _Serena said. Olivia grinned.

"Cool! Thank you so, so, soooo much! But, why are you inviting me?" She had to ask.

_"I'm inviting everyone I know. You should bring that Elliot kid! Eric's bringing Jenny. It's at seven on sixty three Park Avenue. See ya!" _Serena hung up. Olivia couldn't believe it-she was going to her first Upper East Side party. She couldn't wait to tell Sophie and Layne-and Elliot. She immediately dialed Sophie's cell number.

_"Livia!" _Sophie shouted. _"Ohemgee! I haven't talked to you in, like, years!" _

Olivia smiled at the sound of her friend's voice. "Hey, Soph! Guess what?"

_"What?" _Sophie asked.

"I am going to a party tonight."

_"Cool! Who's is it?" _This was the part that would freak Sophie out.

"SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Olivia screamed. Sophie screamed back.

_"OOOOOOOOMMMMIIIIIGOOOODDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" _Sophie shouted. _"I am so jealous, O! Who are you going with?_"

"Just this guy I like, Elliot Stabler," Olivia said casually. She really wanted to say, "my new boyfriend" but she was afraid she would jinx it.

_"Cool! Hey, I gotta go. TTYL, Liv!"_

"You too, Sophie! See ya!" Olivia hung up and started to dial Elliot's number.

"Hey, Elliot! What are you doing tonight?" Olivia asked.

_"Not much, I'm probably just going to watch TV and then play Uno with Phoebe or something."_

"How about coming to a party with me? It's at Serena van der Woodsen's house and she said I could bring someone," she added.

_"Sounds great! Are you picking me up?"_ Elliot asked.

"Yeah, six fourty five good?" Olivia asked.

_"Sure," Elliot said. "What should I wear?" _

Olivia wrinkled her nose. "Well, I'm wearing a dress, so I say a button down and khakis are a safe bet. No business suits, thought," she warned. "I don't really want people to think my date is an insurance salesman."

_"No business suits," Elliot assured her. "Heck, I don't even think I own a business suit." _

"Cool," Olivia said. She hung up and raced into her room. She completely ignored her old wardrobe, which pretty much screamed "Loser." Instead, she went straight for the clothes Jenny had given her. She put on a sparkly purple ruffled dress and paired it with a pair of silver flats she had bought while shopping with Sophie before she moved. True, they were cute by Olivia Benson standards and probably not by Upper East Side standards, but they went with the dress. Next came the hair, which was Olivia's worst feature in her opinion. It was boring brown, straight, and flat. Even if she curled it, it fell flat within twenty minutes. Plus it was stuck in that in-between stage, between long enough for a ponytail and short enough to look like Keira Knightley. There wasn't much she could do with it except pull back the front pieces in sparkly clips, like she was doing. Grabbing her faux Louis Vuitton (bought from a street vendor for $15!) she walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind her.

Serena's House

7: 15 P.M

Stepping into the parlor, Olivia looked around the massive penthouse in awe. It was huge! And all the furniture was so...white and geometric. She felt like she was in an Apple store. Or a museum.

"Welcome, welcome!" Lily van der Woodsen, Serena's mom, greeted Olivia and Elliot, kissing them on both cheeks. "Come in! There's food over there, this party is being catered by Francesa's. Serena and the girls are over there, but don't worry, tons of people are on their way. Enjoy!" She waved. Olivia wasn't worried. Already, there were tons of people here, not just people from school but socialites, businesspeople (Lily's friends?) and reporters as well.

"How many more people can be here without breaking the law?" Olivia asked, gaping at a beautiful Picasso original. "I'm so afraid to touch anything."

"Olivia! Elliot! You came!" Serena exclaimed, breaking away from a group of reporters and dashing over. "You guys look so great! Most of our friends are here. Casey, Alex, Jenny, Eric, Jocelyn, John, my friends, and Liana." She leaned in, talking from the corner of her mouth. "Liana had to bring her obnoxious little brother, Lowell Harris." She snickered. "He's a freshman. Technically he's supposed to be a sophomore but he got held back."

"Couldn't he stay at home? And does he go to St. Jude's?" Olivia asked.

Serena shook her head. "That kid is psycho. He goes to Hallen Prep, on Madison. He's already been kicked out of St. Jude's Riverside Prep, and two boarding schools. If he gets kicked out of Hallen, he'll have to go to public school. And are you kidding me? His parents are afraid he's gonna, like, blow up their apartment building."

"Jeez," Olivia said, shaking his head.

"I think he's jealous. Liana's a total prodigy, so she gets all the attention. His parents are Tanya Harris and Nicholas Harris. They were in Fortune 500 last month. I kinda feel bad for him," Serena said. "Come on! Let's go!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia noticed Blair Waldorf glaring at her. What else was new?

"Come on!" Serena insisted. "Let me introduce you to some people. This is Bethany Hart and Richard Allens from the New York Times." Olivia couldn't believe it! Sophie was going to freak out when she told her that she met Liana Harris, her arsonist brother, and people from the New York Times. Sophie had seen Liana sing on "Teen Superstar" (pretty much a teen American Idol) once and had insisted Olivia and her join chorus.

"Hi!" Olivia said. "I'm Olivia Benson." Bethany snapped her picture.

"It's nice to meet you, Olivia," Bethany said. "We love meeting friends of Serena's. Tell me, is this your first year at Constance Billard?"

Olivia put her purse and coat down on a chair. "Yeah. I moved here from Monroe. I really like it here so far..."

*****

"I can't believe she came here," Blair said bitterly. "What nerve! Seriously."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "I can't believe Serena invited her."

"Well, yanno, she likes to do that nice thing when she invites the whole world," Penelope said.

"Look," Blair said, nudging her chin in the direction of Olivia's purse. "Let's take her phone. You know what I say, cell phones are the windows to people's souls."

"Won't Olivia notice?" Kati asked.

Blair shook her head, noticing Bethany Hart from the New York Times talking to Olivia while another reporter wrote it all down. Why was a reporter interviewing _Olivia _of all people?!? Blair should be the one being interviewed!

"She's busy. Hazel, do it," she demanded. Hazel stood up, made sure nobody was watching, and carefully slipped Olivia's Razr into her pocket. "Done and done."

Blair and the girls clapped. "Nice job, H. Now let's see what our little friend has been up to, shall we?"

Olivia's House

7:34 A.M, Saturday

Olivia could not find her cell phone.

She dumped out her purse, tore around her room, and pretty much searched through every inch of the room. But it wasn't there.

_Hey, _she thought. _Maybe I dropped it and Elliot picked it up_. She picked up the home phone and dialed Elliot's number.

"Liv! Oh my God, are you okay?" Elliot asked. "I called you ten times! You never called me back! I got worried."

Olivia was confused. "Actually, I lost my cell. That's why I called you-but I guess you don't have it."

"Really? That sucks," Elliot said. "I'll pick you up in twenty minutes."

"Why?" Olivia asked.

"It's a surprise."

Olivia threw on her jeans and T-shirt and went outside to wait for Elliot. Her mother had ran out of the house around five, so it was unlikely she'd care.

"Hey!" Elliot said, kissing her on the cheek. "Morning!" They stepped into a cab.

"Thirteen Fifth Avenue," Elliot instructed. The cab driver gave them a how-old-are-you-anyway look, but started driving.

"Are you going to tell me where you're going?" Olivia asked suspiciously.

Elliot sighed. "I told you, it's a surprise."

The cab pulled up in front of a giant store. But before Olivia could look, Elliot covered her eyes.

"Walk forward twelve steps," he said. Olivia did that, and then Elliot let her look.

"You took me to the Verizon store?" Olivia asked.

Elliot nodded. "Do you want...an LG Dare or a pink Blackberry Curve?" Elliot asked, picking up two different phones.

"Hmmm," Olivia said. "I've always wanted a Blackberry..."

"Done!" Elliot interrupted. "I'd like to buy one of these."

A geeky guy in a Verizon shirt squinted at Elliot. "Uh, how old are you?"

"Sixteen," Elliot said.

"Elliot, it's too expensive!" Olivia objected. "I can't let you buy me it!"

"Oh, relax Liv, I borrowed Phoebe's credit card. She won't mind. In fact, after you get your new phone, she wants to meet you."

Olivia rolled her eyes. It was no use talking him out of it, and she needed a phone. "Thanks," she said, putting her new phone in her purse.

*****

"Hi, Olivia!" Phoebe Stabler screamed. "I'm Phoebe, Elliot's sister!"

"Hi," Olivia answered.

_Welcome to life on Blackberry._

_Welcome to life on Blackberry._

_Welcome to life on Blackberry._

"What is that?" Olivia asked.

_Welcome to life on Blackberry. _

Phoebe burst out laughing. "That was Mom's ringtone when she first got her phone."

"Oh!" Olivia exclaimed. She pulled out her new Blackberry.

"SOPHIE" flashed on the screen. "One sec," she said.

"Hey, Sophie!"

"OOOOOOLLLIIIIIVVVVVVVIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sophie screamed.

"I can hear that," Elliot pointed out.

"Omigod! Have you read Page Six yet?" Sophie asked.

"No," Olivia said.

"YOU'RE IN IT!!! With Serena and LIANA HARRIS!"

"What about Liana Harris?" Phoebe asked. "Isn't that that straight-A junior singer girl with the crazy brother?"

"Are you kidding?" Olivia shouted. "I can't believe it!"

"Well, believe it, babe, my BFF's a star!" Sophie said. "I gotta go, but text me. Don't forget about the little people!"

Olivia giggled and pressed End.

"What's up?" Elliot asked.

"Apparently, I'm on Page Six."

Phoebe stood up. "What about Liana Harris?" she asked again.

"Oh, we hung out last night. That's all."

"At Serena's?" Phoebe asked, sounding jealous.

"Yup."

"You are so lucky, O!" she exclaimed. "I wish I could get invited to Serena's parties. Maybe next time." She winked at me.

Elliot rolled his eyes. "Don't push your luck."

"So, why'd you buy her a Blackberry, anyway?" Phoebe asked, picking up Olivia's new phone. "What's wrong with a box of chocolates?"

"Because I _lost_ my old phone," Olivia answered. "Besides, I'm more of a Jelly Belly person. But only the weird flavors, like cappuccino and marshmallow."

"Well, you're lucky Elliot's overly generous and bizarre," Phoebe continued. "My first boyfriend gave me a crumpled up flower for my birthday. He probably picked it out of Mrs. Quimby's garden on the way to my house. I bet he was like, 'Oh crap, I forgot to buy her something.' What a loser." She shook her head. "Anyway. I'm off to meet some friends, so see you guys later. Adios, amigos." She closed the door.

"Phew," Elliot said. "Thank god that's over."

"Why?" Olivia asked. "Phoebe is cool. I would die to have a sister. Most of the time, it's just me and me." _It's just me and me_ was one of Olivia's favorite expressions.

"I'm so sorry," he answered. "Yanno, you're always welcome here. Phoebe adores you."

"Yeah, but isn't that just because I'm friends with Serena and Liana?" Olivia asked. Jeez, why couldn't she just make friends like a normal person? Then again, nobody had ever used "Olivia Benson" and "Normal" in the same sentence. Most of the time, the adjectives of choice were "shy" or "bookish."

"No way," Elliot said. "I showed her your MySpace page. She thinks you're great." Olivia's phone beeped. It was Sophie. Again? Didn't she talk to her, like, two seconds ago?

_SophieXO: Check out ur myspace! Some creep left a comment!_

She punched the Web address into her Blackberry Browser. Wow, it was cool having Internet on her phone!

"What is it?" Elliot asked.

Olivia read it out loud. "'I saw U at the party last night. U got it going on. -LH'"

"What the hell is that?" he demanded.

"I think it's that Lowell Harris kid. Yanno, the one that got kicked out of twenty schools or something. I'm responding." She giggled. "'Lowell, U R an asshole! Go get a life! XOXO!' That kid has issues. I don't really 'got it going on,' right? What am I, a Beyonce backup dancer?" She laughed.

"I'm not a big fan of posting mean MySpace comments," Elliot admitted. "Then you get a mean one in return, and it keeps going on forever." She got a MySpace alert.

"'I hate you bitch!'" she read. "Okay, that is out of line." _Uh, who's the bitch now?!_ She typed. Then she highlighted Lowell's screen name and pressed "Block User."

"See?" she pointed out. "I'm ending it."

"If you say so...hey, want lunch?" Elliot asked.

"Sure," Olivia said. "I can cook anything except scrambled eggs. Sophie calls my eggs scrambled cardboard." Elliot snickered.

"We're low on groceries," he warned. Olivia got up and looked through the fridge.

"Hmmm. Brie, caviar, olives on toothpics, crab croutes, mini antipasto sandwiches, prosciutto bites, and scallops wrapped in bacon. Lemme guess, your parents had a business party?"

"Yesterday," Elliot confirmed.

"In the pantry we have..." she jumped on the counter. "Oatmeal, oatmeal, and...oatmeal! Blech!" Olivia made a face. "I hate oatmeal. But you also have...half-crushed tortilla chips, a bag of Starbursts, and what is THAT?"

"My sister's face mask."

"Why is it in the pantry?" Olivia hopped down. "We're not eating that. I don't know about you, but I think it's takeout time. How about it?"

"Sure," Elliot said. "Why not?"

"You say that a lot," she pointed out. "This is you. Why not this? Why not that? Why not pick a new catch phrase?"

"Okay, if that's me, this is you. It's just me and me, it's just me and me, it's just me and this annoying slogan!"

"Why not? Why not?" Olivia countered.

"Why not? Because it's just me and me," Elliot retorted.

"Nope," Olivia corrected. "It's just me and the Manhattan water supply." She pulled out the Stabler's Bang and Olufsen faucet, aimed it at Elliot, and turned it on.

"Oh my God!" Elliot screeched. "What was that for?"

Olivia giggled and turned off the water faucet. "Why not?"

"Ech-hem!" An older woman cleared her throat. She was standing in the doorway.

"Hi, Mrs. Quimby," Elliot groaned. "What's up?"

"WHAT'S UP?" Mrs. Quimby shouted. "I'm trying to sleep, and what do I find? Two teenagers having a water fight!" She tsk-tsked and walked away. "You act like you are five, Elliot!"

Elliot shut the door and burst out laughing. "Sorry."

"No, _I'm _sorry," Olivia said.

"Why?" But Olivia sprayed him with the hose once again.

"That's why." She smirked. "Don't worry, El, I'm sure those clothes are all from _last _season anyway."

"You sound like Blair Waldorf!" Elliot said. Olivia scrunched her face.

"Hi, my name is Blair Waldorf. My interests are being bitchy, stealing people's boyfriends, and conducting evil schemes against people," she said.

"Olivia..."

"I only buy something if it's at least a thousand dollars, I'm going to get into Yale even though I got a B, and my worst enemy is Olivia Benson, even though she didn't do anything."

"Olivia..."

"Finally, if you're a guy, don't dump me or I'll totally trash you on the Internet and you'll have to move to Tibet to become a yak farmer."

"OLIVIA!"

"What?" Olivia asked.

"Look!" Elliot pointed to the floor. Olivia had dropped the faucet and the Stabler's kitchen was starting to look like a flood zone.

Olivia giggled. "Oops. I'll clean it up."

"Why not?"

She couldn't wait to IM Sophie later. After all, it's not like she had ever flooded her boyfriend Mark Peterson's kitchen.

*****

"You got it?" Blair asked. Hazel nodded and handed Blair Olivia's old cell. She flipped it open and laughed. "Who the hell is that?" Olivia's background was a picture of a girl in pink skinny jeans, a pink sweater, and a pink hat. "She really likes pink."

"What are you gonna do, anyway?" Hazel asked. Blair was too busy scrolling through Olivia's texts to respond. There must be something juicy there, right?

"Look at this," Blair said.

_LivBenson89 to SophieXO: Still can't believe I'm moving. Still can't believe Mom put another kid up for adoption. Don't tell anyone!!!_

Blair's friends snickered as she forwarded the text to . "Olivia Benson is going down," Penelope said. "But that can't be all you're doing."

"Watch and learn, ladies," Blair said. "I'm just getting started."


	5. An Inconvenient Truth

Grand Central Station

Sunday, 11:35 A.M

Sophie Hayward walked through the massive halls of Grand Central, looking for the West Side exit. From Grand Central, Olivia's house was only a few blocks away, and anyway, she didn't join track for nothing.

Walking along the streets, she hummed Lady Gaga's "Just Dance," her song of the day.

_Just dance, gonna be okay_

_Da da doo doo_

_Just dance, spin that record babe_

_Da da doo doo_

_Just dance, gonna be okay_

_Just, just, dance, dance, dance, just, just, just, dance!_

"Sophie?" she heard. She spun around.

"Livia!" Sophie shouted, giving her BFF a big hug. "Omigod!"

"What are you doing here?" Olivia asked.

"I came to surprise you!" Sophie said. "What about you?"

"I was just heading home," Olivia responded.

Sophie grinned. "From where?"

Olivia blushed. "Elliot's."

Sophie giggled. "Ooh la la. Let's head to your new place."

They walked to Olivia's building. Olivia turned her lock into the keyhole, and stepped inside.

"HOLY CRAP!" she screamed. The place was a MESS. There were letters, magazines, and random stuff from the counters all over the place. Olivia's room was the worst. The perpetrator had taken every piece of Olivia's clothes and strewn them everywhere. Olivia grabbed an Abercrombie top out from her desk drawer and retrieved a pair of PJ pants from her printer. Of course, they were now ink stained. Goodbye, PJ pants.

"Omigod, who did this?" Sophie asked, gaping at the messy room.

"I think I have an idea. Can you hand me my phone?" Olivia asked. Sophie handed it to her. Olivia ran around the room, snapping pictures of everything she saw. Including the PJ pants a la HP Premium Printer Ink.

"Are you gonna try to get insurance coverage or something?" Sophie joked.

"Nope." After she was satisfied, Olivia dialed 212-555-8932, a.k.a the number for Bethany Hart from Page Six. She pressed speaker.

"Bethany Hart, New York Times," Bethany answered.

"Hello, this is Olivia Benson. I was at Serena van der Woodsen's party?" Olivia said.

"Oh, hi Olivia! How are you doing?" Bethany asked.

"Actually, not so good. Someone broke into my house and I wanted to talk to the people from CNN. Do you know their number?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's 555-3125," Bethany said. "Good luck, Olivia!"

"Bye," Olivia said. Then she punched in the number and told the reporters everything, as well as sending them the evidence. "Sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire. Want some popcorn?"

"Sure," Sophie said. "Are you sure that your mom won't mind me staying here?"

Olivia shrugged. "She's never home lately. She probably wouldn't even notice. You can borrow anything you want of mine. Jenny Humphrey-she's my new friend-gave me some of her designs."

"The girl with the fashion show?" Sophie asked. "I love her clothes! Thanks, O!"

Olivia fluffed her hair. "I totally need a haircut," she complained. "My hair looks like a drowned rat."

"Didn't you want to grow it out? And get bangs?" Sophie asked.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Please, bangs are so eightys. And every time I try to grow it out, it always ends up looking awful. Your hair looked amazing short."

"Yeah, but then I got sick of it. And you can always get extensions. Yanno, you should get layers," Sophie suggested.

"Really?" Olivia asked. "Why? You hated your layers."

"Yeah, but yours would look better," she insisted.

Olivia's phone ringed. She was too busy to record "Right Here" again (Where was her phone, anyway?) so she just used a regular ring sound.

"Hello?"

"Olivia, it's Norton Burns from CNN. I got your message. We're airing the story right now." Olivia raced to the TV and flipped it on.

"Today, a local socialite named Olivia Benson's house was rampaged by a psychopath. Nobody was hurt. If you have any information on the perpetrator, please call the number below," a reporter said. Olivia turned it off.

"They called me a socialite!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Okay, you deff have to get layers now," Sophie insisted. "If you're going to be a socialite, you have to have cute hair."

"I do not want to be a socialite. I want to be a detective, remember?" Olivia asked. "You don't really need to have cute hair when you're arresting people."

"Even if you're a detective, you can still go to parties and stuff at night," Sophie reminded her. "You don't have to work all the time, yanno. Haven't you seen _Miss Congeniality_?"

Olivia opened her mouth, but her phone beeped.

"What is it now?" Sophie groaned.

Olivia was pale. "It's Gossip Girl. They know. What my mom did. Before we moved."

"Are you crazy?" Sophie said. "Who sent it?"

"I think it's Blair Waldorf," Olivia answered. "That bitchy girl I told you about. Maybe she stole my phone!"

"That sucks," Sophie said. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to diss her back," Olivia said, definitively. "How does this sound: 'Spotted: Blair Waldorf shopping at Wal-Mart. Has B gone broke?'" She giggled as she hit send.

"That's good, but not like, 'I have another sister' good."

"Don't worry, S," Olivia said. "I'm just getting started."

_Gossip Girl Voiceover_

_What happened the last time when B met her match? Oh, yeah, the enemy surrendered. Will O be any different? Don't ask me._

School on Monday

10:23 A.M

It all started out as a normal day. Olivia was walking down the hallway like she did every morning. Unfortunately, Blair Waldorf was leaning against her locker.

"Hi, Olivia," Blair sing-songed.

Olivia glared at her. "What do you want this time?" she snapped.

"Oh, nothing," Blair said. "Serena just told me to give you a message. You're on yearbook, right?"

Olivia nodded. She stuffed her bag in her locker. "Blair, can you just leave already?" she said pleadingly.

"Don't worry, I'll be out of your _hair_." Blair smirked at Olivia's frizzy hair. Olivia had been in a rush that morning and hadn't had time to wash her hair. "But Serena told me to tell you that the meeting with the printer is at _five_, not four."

"You sure?" Olivia asked.

"Yes! Yes! I am! She just didn't want you to have to be there waiting!" Blair insisted. "Bye!"

_That was weird, _Olivia thought. But if Serena told her, she was sure it was true. Maybe Blair felt bad.

Blair? Get real.

*****

"Welcome to Madison Avenue Printing, how may I help you?" the receptionist asked Olivia, not once looking up from her iMac.

"Yes, I'm Olivia Benson from the yearbook committee at Constance Billard School, I have a meeting with Timothy Peterson?" Olivia said.

The receptionist looked up. "Honey, your meeting was scheduled for an hour ago," she snapped.

"Excuse me? I thought it was rescheduled," Olivia said. "Is he available now?"

"Miss Benson, this appointment was scheduled weeks ago. You want a meeting with Timothy? You need to get your priorities straight." She looked back down, and Olivia walked out of the building, astonished. Her phone rang. Great, it was Serena, the last person she wanted to talk to. Aside from that creepy Harrison Bergeron kid.

"Hey, S," she said dejectedly.

"Olivia? What's wrong? Did the meeting go badly?"

"No!" Olivia wailed. "Blair told me it was rescheduled. I showed up an hour late."

"Blair did that?" Serena said. "Omigod, that's awful! I'm so sorry."

"I know," she said. At least Serena wasn't mad.

"Okay, well, maybe we can reschedule. Sorry, Liv. Bye." She hung up, and Olivia sighed in relief. She had expected being, like, excommunicated or something. But most of all, she felt stupid. She was waaaay to naive sometimes. How could she have believed Blair Waldorf? She was a total idiot.

Her phone rang again. ELLIOT S flashed on the screen. She continued walking up Madison towards the park as she answered it.

"Hi, Elliot," she said. "I am officially an idiot. A complete and total moron."

"Why?" Elliot asked, sounding concerned.

"Because, Blair told me that Serena had rescheduled the meeting with the publisher, so I just went all the way down to Madison for nothing. I am so stupid," Olivia complained. "How could I have believed her?"

"It's okay," Elliot said.

"No, it's not. True, Serena was more pissed at Blair than at me, but still!" Olivia whined. "I can't believe myself. But the good news is, my friend Sophie Hayward is in town." She looked down at her own outfit, which looked suspiciously like Sophie's clothes. She had taken out her old clothes and was now wearing her old "Monroe" clothes. Right now she was wearing sparkly black skinny jeans with a knit pink-and-white striped sweater Sophie had bought her for her birthday. She was even wearing her old Converse shoes that all her friends from Monroe had signed before she moved.

"Oh, cool," Elliot said. "Phoebe went to a movie so it's just me and me. Want to meet up in the park or something?"

"Why not?" Olivia joked. "I'm on Madison, but I'm a really fast walker, so I think I'll be there in ten. Meet me at the bench by the duck pond."

"Sure," he responded. "See you."

"Oh, I got a haircut," Olivia said quickly, looking at her new look in the mirrored wall of a building. Her hair was now layered, fluffier, and she had the same side bangs as Sophie and Catherine Mezzodino, one of her old friends. She had even added light brown highlights, despite her "detectives don't need cute hair" argument.

"Cool! Can't wait to see it. Can't wait to see _you_. See you soon."

It was pretty warm for February, fifty five degrees Fahrenheit. The sun was shining. Even the birds were chirping. It felt more like spring, and everyone was outside.

"Hey, Elliot," Olivia greeted, sitting down. "How's the weather?"

"Good," he said. Olivia took out her binder from her bag.

"Ugh, I have a stupid computer programming quiz tomorrow. Want to help me study?" Olivia asked, rolling her eyes.

"Sure," Elliot said. "Let's start with an easy one. How about, if you are running MS-DOS from a boot disk, what executable do you need to run in the command line? Liv, do you even know what that means?"

Olivia giggled. "Um, ?" she guessed.

"Yup. Okay, next one."

Olivia sat up.

"What file path do you need to specify if you're going to run a .exe file from a flash drive?"

"The drive letter of the flash drive," Olivia answered. "How about I ask you some?" she asked, smirking. She picked up the packet. "Um...let's see...do you know what DLL stands for?"

"Dogs Loving Lollipops?" Elliot guessed pathetically. Olivia burst out laughing. "Debbie Likes Larry? Dim Lightbulbs Live?"

"You are too funny!" Olivia exclaimed.

"No, really, what is it?" Elliot asked.

"Dynamic Link Library," Olivia answered. "They're the same thing as executables, pretty much. Next one. Should you use a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system for a microprocessor running a Unix subsystem?"

"Uh, just to make sure, we're studying computers, not French, right?" Elliot joked. "Listen to this: What is the function of the process? Seriously, do you know what that means?"

"Yeah, it's the host process for Windows XP, idiot," Olivia joked. "You are not smarter than a fifth grader."

Elliot laughed and grabbed the packet. "'What is a Blue Screen of Death?' Seriously? That sounds like the name of a horror movie."

"It would be about evil computers," Olivia added. "But in real life, it's when your computer does that thing, and then shows that bad thing when you turn on your computer, and then you can't use it anymore and you'll have to move to Tibet to become a yak farmer."

"I think you're prejudiced against Tibetan yak farmers. It's 2009, they probably have computers there," Elliot pointed out.

"I think you're prejudiced against 64-bit Unix subsystems running DLL files," Olivia retorted. She sat back with a smirk. "Oooh, burn!"

"Okay, truce," Elliot said. "Let's play 20 Questions. I'm thinking of an animal."

"Cat?" Olivia asked.

"Nope."

"Dog?"

"Yep. It's a female dog."

"Does it have fur?" Olivia asked.

"No, except on her head," Elliot said.

"Does it live in the city?"

"Yep."

"On the Upper East Side?"

"Yep."

"It's Blair Waldorf!" Olivia shouted, laughing. "Speaking of Blair, she stole my phone and told Gossip Girl that my mom put another baby up for adoption two years before she had me."

"Really?" Elliot asked. "That's awful! Who is the kid?"

"I don't know," Olivia said. "But I'm really curious. You'd be too, if you had another sibling."

"Maybe your mom has papers lying around," Elliot suggested. "Is she home? You could look for them."

"No," Olivia sighed. "She's never home lately. She wouldn't even notice."

"Then let's do it."

"Sure," Olivia said.

*****

"Olivia! Thank God you're home. I've been watching Grey's Anatomy all afternoon," Sophie said, ambushing Olivia and Elliot at the front door. "I'm off this week, yanno. There's only so much Grey's Anatomy I can watch. Oh, is this Elliot?" she asked.

"Hi," Elliot said. "You're Sophie Hayward, right?"

Sophie nodded. "Okay, if you guys are gonna, like, make out, I'm out," Sophie said. Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Relax, S, we're just trying to find out who my sibling is," Olivia said. "Want to help? The papers would be in her office."

"Fine," Sophie said. "Wow, your mom's study is a mess."

"She's been busy," Olivia mumbled, looking through a drawer.

"Oh my God," Elliot said. "You know Meredith Baker?"

"Duh," Olivia and Sophie said at the same time, rolling their eyes at each other. Meredith Baker was a teen model from New Hampshire who was on this month's Teen Vogue.

"Look at this," he said, shoving a paper in Olivia's face.

"What is it?" Sophie demanded.

Olivia turned around. "Meredith Baker...is my sister."

Sophie snickered. "Let's not forget my mom's the Queen of England!" she joked.

"No, seriously!" Olivia insisted. "Look!"

"What are you gonna do?" Elliot asked.

Olivia smiled, reaching for her phone. "I was thinking I'd start with an email."

*****

E-Mail

From: Olivia Benson

To: Meredith Baker

Subject: No Subject

Hi Meredith,

I know you don't know me, and you're probably thinking "Why is this random person e-mailing me?" But I learned a while ago that my mother put you up for adoption 2 years before I was born (I'm a sophomore, so I guess you are a senior!). Anyway, since I'm your sister and all, I think we should meet sometimes. My name's Olivia Benson and I live in New York City and go to Constance Billard School (A week ago I was on Page Six with Serena van der Woodsen and Liana Harris.). If you want to meet me, you can e-mail me back or call me at (212)-555-3906. I can't wait to hear from you! Talk to you later!

XOXO,

Olivia

Hermann Studios

New Hampshire

3:57 P.M

Meredith Baker sat next to Janine Sanders, her ditzy blonde best friend, eating Caesar salads.

"Omigod, I am so fat," Janine complained, looking at her thighs. "I totally pigged out at Cassidy's party last week. I'm so glad we met Cassidy and her friends though. She's so fabulicious."

"You are not fat, J!" Meredith insisted. "Hey, wanna hear something weird?"

"What?" Janine asked. "Did Kara Loverly flirt with Chris again? What a slut!"

"No," Meredith said. "Don't be an idiot. I got this weird e-mail from some girl named Olivia Benson. She said I'm her sister." Meredith snorted and passed Janine her ice blue LG Chocolate so she could read it for herself."

"Do you mean Olivia Benson the socialite?" Janine asked. "I saw her picture in Page Six the other day. She looks kind of like you, except she has this whole cheap-chic fashion thing going on." Janine held the article up to Meredith's face.

"You look exactly like her," she announced. "Hey!" She waved over Katie McAfee, another model. "Don't you think Meredith looks like Olivia Benson?"

Katie popped an organic sweet potato chip into her mouth and raised a perfect eyebrow. "Who the hell's Olivia Benson?" she asked.

"She's a socialite," Janine asked. "From New York. She hangs out with Serena van der Woodsen. Apparently, she's Meredith's cousin."

"Sister," Meri corrected, rolling her eyes.

"I've never heard of her," Katie said, shrugging. She looked at the article. "But you do look kinda like her."

"I know, right?" Janine said. They both looked at Meredith. "Are you going to meet her?" she pressed.

Meredith shrugged. "IDK. What if she's a total loser?"

"Then you make fun of her, then head to the airport, go home, and we joke about her over drinks that night," Janine said. "I'll come with you. Come on, how bad can she be? She's related to you."

Meredith smiled. Maybe this wasn't such a sucky idea. Maybe her and Olivia Benson could go to parties together with Serena and Liana, sip martinis at elite clubs in the city, and have tapas parties (the latest thing) at the Soho penthouse Olivia probably lived in. Then she'd go home with Janine and they'd brag to Katie, Cassidy, and all their other friends about the fabulicious time they had in the city.

Guess again, babe.


	6. The Devil Wears Gucci

Jenny's House

Thursday

5:13 P.M

"So, let me get this straight," Jenny said slowly. "Meredith Baker the model is your sister?"

"Half-sister, I think, but whatev," Olivia said. "Yup. And she's going to meet me tomorrow cause we have off. Want to come with me? Elliot's coming."

"Sure," Jenny said. "Where?"

"At the restaraunt in the Palace Hotel," Olivia answered. "At noon."

"Cool," Jenny said. "I still can't believe it. What are you wearing?"

Olivia shrugged. "I don't know, maybe a jean skirt, leggings, and a cami with a cropped sweater. But I haven't really thought about it," she admitted. "You?"

"I was thinking my plaid dress with the tulle ruffle. It's one of my only designs that the psycho model Agnes didn't destroy," Jenny joked.

"I love that dress," Olivia said. The front door opened and Dan, as well as his friend Vanessa Abrams, walked in.

"Hi, Jenny!" Vanessa called. She had forgiven Jenny after she cut out the lining in her dress. "What's Rufus making for dinner?"

"Chili," Jenny's dad, Rufus Humphrey, answered, stirring a pot.

"Hey, Jen," Dan said. "What a surprise. Olivia's here."

"Well, she has pretty big news," Jenny said. "Tell him!"

Olivia took a deep breath. "Well, Meredith Baker is my half-sister," she said.

"Who's Meredith Baker?" Dan asked.

"Wow, Dan," Jenny said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed her Teen Vogue and pointed to a cover. "_She's _Meredith Baker."

"That's fascinating," Dan said.

"Dan's not really into clothes," Jenny said. "He likes poets. And letters to poets." She smirked at Dan's faded copy of _Letters to a Young Poet _by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Olivia rolled her eyes and dumped out her bookbag on the floor. Out came every issue of _Teen Vogue, Teen People, Teen, CosmoGirl, Elle Girl, People, US, Star, Entertainment Weekly, In Touch, _and_ Seventeen _Olivia could get her hands on featuring Meredith Baker. She even had an issue of _Bon Appetit, _only because inside was a picture of her in an apron stirring a pot of pasta at their _Stars Cook Too! _event.

Vanessa whistled. "Did you rob a newsstand or something?" she asked.

"No," Olivia said. "I'm meeting my sister on Saturday, the day after the dance, and I want to know a little about her first so I don't feel like I've been living under a rock."

"Don't worry!" Jenny insisted. "Just be yourself!" She slapped Olivia's arm. "And quit biting your nails!"

Olivia giggled. "I am so glad you're coming with me," she admitted. "I am so terrified."

"Why?" Jenny asked. "You share at least a portion of her DNA, how bad can she be? Besides, she'll probably want to take you shopping on Fifth Avenue and to get your nails done. Yanno, sisterly things."

"But what if she's a total bitch?" Olivia asked.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "She's meeting a sister she hasn't heard of in years. She's not going to be a bitch, trust me. And no offense, but if you really want more Meredith Baker info, you'd have better luck with Google rather than Bon Appetit. Why do you care so much anyway? Like I said, just be yourself."

"What if that's not good enough?" she asked. "I really want this to work out. It's not like I have any other-" She stopped. There was no way she was going to open up to Jenny about her family in front of all the other people. She said that her parents were divorced, her mother worked really late, and most of her family lived in California. In real life, she didn't even know who her father was, all of her extended family was either dead or unknown, and her mother was a Yale professor/alcoholic that came home, oh, once or twice a week? The other days she just stayed over in New Haven.

"Any other what?" Jenny asked.

"Sisters," she said quickly, smiling nervously. "I'm an only child. But what if she hates Elliot?"

"Nobody hates Elliot," Jenny assured her.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "What was it you told me the first day of school? Oh yeah, 'Elliot Stabler is public enemy number one around here.'"

"Well, just because Blair and her partners in crime hate him doesn't mean Meredith won't like him," Jenny insisted. "Omigod, is that the time? Liv, quit moping and go get ready for the dance!" Olivia dropped the magazine and walked into Jenny's room. As soon as Jenny heard the door shut, Olivia's phone rang.

"Livvy Benson's phone," Jenny answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Liv?" Elliot asked. "Is that you?"

"Hi, Elliot. It's Jenny. Olivia's getting dressed," Jenny told him. "What's up?"

"Well, I'm outside your apartment," Elliot said. "Apartment 3C, right?"

"Yeah," Jenny said. "Wait-you're here? The dance doesn't start till seven!"

Jenny could faintly hear Elliot's voice on the other side of the door.

"Well, I thought I should come by a little early," he said.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Elliot, this is more than a little early. It's a quarter after five!"

"Well, let me in and we can talk about it," Elliot insisted. "Please?"

Jenny rolled my eyes and opened the door with one hand. "This is ridiculous."

"Who is it?" Jenny's dad asked.

"Olivia's date. He's two hours early," Jenny said, glaring at Elliot. Jokingly.

"Well, luckily we have enough chili and 80's classic rock songs for everyone! The more the merrier!" Rufus exclaimed.

Jenny raised her eyebrows at Elliot. "Glad you came early, aren't you?" she joked.

"Where's Liv?" Elliot asked, looking around. He placed a bouquet of roses on the table.

"She's getting dressed," Jenny said. "She's wearing one of my designs from my fashion show. Yanno, the green one." She pointed to one of her Polaroids.

"Liv?" he called. "Olivia?"

Instead, Vanessa walked out, carrying a bowl of ice cream. "Uh, who are you?"

"Elliot Stabler," Elliot said. "Do you know where Olivia went?"

"OH MY EFFIN' GOD, ELLIOT! SHE'S GETTING DRESSED!" Jenny shouted. "Seriously!"

"Hey, both of you, don't have a cow," Rufus said. Jenny burst out laughing.

"Dad, since when did you start watching The Simpsons?" she asked.

"What's going on?" Olivia asked, walking out into the living room in Jenny's green dress. "Who watches The Simpsons?"

"Wow, Liv, you look great," Elliot said. "How are you?"

"Elliot? What are you doing here?" Olivia asked, giggling. "It's only five thirty."

"Livvy, we need to do your makeup and your hair," Jenny said.

"I think she looks beautiful just the way she is," Elliot insisted.

Vanessa, a total cynic, rolled her eyes. "Seriously, if you were any more cheesy, you'd have a label stamped to your forehead that said 'Kraft American Singles.'"

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Olivia insisted. Dan walked out of the kitchen.

"Just so you guys know, there are currently seven people in here," Dan said. "Do you think some of you could move elsewhere?"

Jenny sighed. "I need to get dressed, and then do my hair and makeup, and then do Olivia's hair and makeup. Bye, guys." She walked into her room.

Once Jenny was gone, Olivia sat down on the couch. Elliot sat next to her.

"I wanted to give you these," Elliot said, handing her the bouquet of flowers. She kissed him, on the lips this time.

Vanessa cleared her throat. "Uh, guys?"

Olivia turned around and turned bright red. She had forgotten all about Vanessa.

"God, I hate people in love," she mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Um, I should probably go check on Jenny," Olivia said. She smiled and walked away.

_Do I love her? _Elliot thought. He knew he did. But how-and when-would he tell her?

*****

Olivia hung up Jenny's green dress in her closet and put on her favorite comfy PJ's. As far as dances went, this one was really nothing special. Olivia wasn't really a party person after all. The best part of it was dancing with Elliot. Was he her new boyfriend? Olivia had only had one other boyfriend before: Nicholas Mandrina. She had gone to one dance with him and then caught him making out with Marissa James. But she was pretty convinced Elliot was the real thing.

She thought about IMing him, then decided to go to bed. She would be meeting Meredith Baker tomorrow and wanted to get some sleep beforehand. Olivia crawled into bed and fell asleep. However, she wasn't asleep for ten minutes when she heard a knocking on her balcony door.

"You've gotta be kidding," she mumbled into her pillow. It was midnight. She reluctantly rolled out of bed and opened the door. Elliot was sitting on a plastic Adirondack chair.

She rolled her eyes. Any other time, Elliot's visit would have been sweet, but she was exhausted. Plus it was cold, and she was wearing flimsy red Aeropostale "Save the Whales" PJs.

"Elliot!" she hissed. "What the hell are you doing? It's late! Won't your parents kill you?" She tried to look pissed, but it was too hard. She really liked Elliot.

Elliot shrugged. "I realized I hadn't thanked you for a great night," he said. "My parents are in Wisconsin for some sort of realtor's conference. You know, they run Stabler Realty." Olivia nodded.

"What about Phoebe?" Olivia asked.

"I paid her," Elliot admitted. "Twenty bucks. Plus I have to buy her her morning Starbucks frozen mocha-caramel-veinte-frappa-whatever for the next week."

"Ouch," Olivia said. She sighed. "How'd you get a cab this late?"

"I walked," Elliot said.

"You w_alked?_" Olivia exclaimed. "Elliot! How long did it take you?"

"It was only twelve blocks."

"How long?" she demanded.

"Twenty minutes," he said. "Maybe thirty. I forgot my cell."

"Are you insane?" Olivia shouted. "You could get hypothermia!! It's freezing."

"It's not a big deal," Elliot insisted. "Really."

Olivia smiled. "Yanno, you should come in," she suggested.

"Won't your mom get mad?" Elliot asked.

"No, she's in..." She swallowed. "Connecticut."

"What's she doing there?" he said.

"She works at Yale, so it's just easy for her to stay there," Olivia said, trying to sound casual.

"Does she come home a lot?"

"Yeah, almost every night," Olivia said. "She's just busy."

Elliot stepped inside. "You told me she was in California," he reminded her.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot." She laughed nervously.

"You forgot she was in California?"

Olivia shrugged, looking away.

Elliot sat down on Olivia's couch next to her and looked into her eyes. "Olivia," he started. "What's going on?"

Olivia took a deep breath. "My mom really is in Connecticut. But she rarely comes home. Maybe once or twice a week," she admitted. "She's an alcoholic. And my parents aren't really divorced. I don't know my father. Up until last week, I didn't know I had a sister until I found Meredith. She's all I got, El." She started to cry. "Just last week, Blair Waldorf broke into my house."

"Blair broke into your house?" Elliot asked. He sounded surprised. "That doesn't sound like her at all."

"But she's the only person I've pissed off lately," Olivia said.

"Well, what about that person that left those creepy comments on your site?" Elliot asked. "Liana's little brother? The arsonist?"

"You mean that Jack the Ripper-in training kid?" Olivia asked, scrunching up her nose.

"Lowell Harris? Yeah."

"Thank God," Olivia sighed.

"You should be freaking out!" Elliot said.

"Well, I'd rather have some psycho perverted fifteen-year-old break into my house than Blair Waldorf," Olivia pointed out. "If 'evil' had a name, it would be Blair Waldorf."

"You got that right," Elliot agreed.

Olivia walked over to the kitchen. "Do you want some hot chocolate?" she asked. "I think I'll make some." She put up the kettle.

"I haven't really thought about it," Elliot admitted. "But if you're making it, I'll have it."

"Just don't ask me to make scrambled eggs," Olivia warned. "Sophie calls them scrambled cardboard. I'm no Susie Homemaker."

Elliot laughed. "I can make scrambled eggs. Phoebe taught me."

Olivia smiled and pushed her messy hair out of her face. The kettle whistled and she went to pour the hot chocolate into a cup but instead got it all over the floor and Elliot's shoes.

"Oh my God, sorry," she apologized. "I'm so tired. I should really go to bed."

"Oh, that's fine, I'll go home," Elliot said.

Olivia shook her head. "No way. I'm not letting you go home at midnight in cold weather with wet shoes."

"It's okay," Elliot tried to say but Olivia cut her off.

"Seriously, it's fine. My mom always spends weekends in New Haven," she insisted. "Stay. Please?"

"Okay," he finally agreed. "Want to watch TV first or something?"

"I guess," Olivia said. They went into her room and she put on the TV. She flipped through her options: Some stupid cop show on NBC about two detectives that investigated sex crimes and secretly were in love with each other, an even stupider show on the CW about kids in the city that posted rumors on some random website, and a yet even stupider show about a fashion editor in the city that had awful taste but worked at one of the most popular magazines. Finally, she just put on C-SPAN. After a few minutes of watching British delegates debate about the economy, she fell asleep.

Olivia's Room

Saturday

8:24 A.M

Olivia woke up to the sun streaming into her window. She looked around at her room. Her blinds were open, the TV was still on (now showing Morning Politics-fun!), the balcony door was shut, Elliot was next to her....

_WTF?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

"Elliot! Oh my effin' god! How, what, when, where, why?" she snapped, jumping up. Elliot's eyes snapped open.

"Morning, Liv," he said, smirking.

"What the hell were you doing in my bed?" she demanded.

Elliot stood up. "Well, C-SPAN isn't exactly prime-time TV. We must have dozed off," he said.

"And you were on the couch!" Olivia protested. Elliot looked at her meekly.

"Well, I was cold. I didn't think you would mind," he said.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I still cannot believe you." She glanced at the alarm clock. "Yanno, you could have woken me up!"

"I didn't want to," Elliot told her. "You looked cute asleep. Are you hungry? I could make us some scrambled eggs."

"What time is Jenny coming over, anyway?" Elliot asked.

"Noon," Olivia answered. "And I still haven't decided what I want to wear."

Elliot rolled his eyes playfully. "You are so superficial, Benson."

"What are you wearing?" Olivia retorted. "No, let me guess, swim shorts." She smirked.

"Don't worry, Liv, I brought jeans and a new shirt," Elliot assured her.

"You planned this?" Olivia shrieked. "You're going to get it." She reached for the faucet and sprayed Elliot. Again.

Elliot looked around for a second faucet. Why didn't the Bensons have two sinks? They had two sinks. Casey's house on Park Avenue had two sinks. Munch's house had four. Alex's house had three. Serena's house had pretty much a full service restaurant kitchen. Liana Harris's house (Elliot had been there once for some benefit) had a huge kitchen as well.

"This isn't a fair fight," Elliot protested. "You only have one sink."

"Awww, I'm so sorry," Olivia said in a baby voice. She sprayed him again.

_Is this how life would be if we were married? _Elliot thought.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked, turning off the faucet.

"Nothing...I'm fine," Elliot said. _Nothing except I love you. _

From the counter, Olivia's Blackberry beeped. Elliot handed it to her. The text was from Jenny.

_1 hour to go!!!_

Olivia groaned. "Jeez, J, pile on the suspense!"

"Why are you so worried? She's your sister," Elliot reminded her.

"Yeah, but she's Meredith Baker," Olivia insisted. She sunk down on the floor. "I shouldn't have even asked to meet her. It was a totally stupid idea." Elliot sat next to her and brushed a piece of her hair out of her eyes.

"No, it wasn't," he insisted. "You're beautiful and the nicest girl I've ever met. If Meredith doesn't like you, then she's the messed-up one."

Olivia hoped he was right.

Palace Hotel

12:30 P.M

"Name?" the hostess asked, giving Olivia, Jenny, and Elliot the once-over.

"Benson," Olivia said. "I made the reservation a week ago." The host led them to a table in the far corner.

"I wonder where Meredith is," Jenny wondered. Elliot squeezed Olivia's hand.

"Ugh, I asked for skim milk, not whole," a girl's voice said. Meredith Baker and a blonde girl walked into Olivia's view. Meredith rolled her eyes and left the coffee on an empty table. What a diva. To add to it, she was dressed in head-to-toe Gucci. Olivia looked down at her pink sweater, cami, and jeans self-consciously. Even though Olivia's new haircut looked great, Meredith's hair made Olivia's look like a rat's nest.

"Where's Olivia?" the other girl asked. They walked into the dining room.

"Right here!" Olivia called. Meredith looked at her friend and snickered.

"I thought she was supposed to be a _socialite_," Meredith snapped through gritted teeth. "Janine, this is the last time I listen to you." She fake-smiled as she sat across from Olivia.

"Hi, Meredith!" Olivia said. Meredith rolled her eyes a litte.

"Hello, Elizabeth," Meredith sighed, as if it was too hard to remember her name.

"It's _Olivia," _Elliot corrected. The blonde girl pointed to him.

"Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, snickering.

"Yup," Olivia and Elliot said at the same time, giggling.

"Really?" the blonde asked. "He looks kind of like an elf to me. You can do better. Me and Meri will totally hook you up." Jenny jumped in surprise. How rude!

"I'm right here," Elliot reminded her.

"It's so nice to meet you, Meri," Olivia exclaimed. "I can't wait till we can hang out, like real sisters!"

"That's nice," Meredith snapped. "So, tell me, how was the Hamilton wedding?"

Olivia did a double-take. "'Scuse me?"

"The Hamilton wedding?" Meredith repeated. "It was this summer in East Hampton? Marcia and Jed Hamilton?"

"I didn't go," Olivia said. "I don't even know who they are."

Meredith's friend whispered, "Is she joking?"

Meredith laughed. "You're so funny, Olivia! You should deff be a comedian."

"I didn't say anything funny."

"How was the White Party?" Meredith asked. "I was invited but I was modeling in Cali at the time so I couldn't go."

"That sounds racist," Elliot pointed out. "Inviting only white people? It's 2009. Obama's our president, after all."

"Omigod, Elliot, skin color has nothing to do with it!" Jenny insisted. "I went there with Eric van der Woodsen. Everyone dressed in white. That's all. It was pretty fun. But even more fun screwing over Laurel, the boss from hell. I interned for Eleanor Waldorf this summer."

"I wasn't invited," Olivia admitted.

"What?" the blonde girl, Janine, asked, astonished.

"She said she wasn't invited," Elliot snapped.

"I know, but I can't believe a socialite didn't get invited to either the White Party or the Hamilton wedding!" Janine exclaimed.

"I'm not a socialite," Olivia said, confused.

Meredith whispered something in Janine's ear. She looked totally shocked.

"B-but you were in Page Six with Serena van der Woodsen and Liana Harris!" Meredith exclaimed. Olivia laughed.

"Meri, you've got it all wrong," she told her. "Serena, Liana and I go to the same school. Me and S are on yearbook together, and she invited everyone from school. But I'm not a socialite," she insisted.

Janine whispered to Meri again."We're just gonna go use the ladies room," Janine said, giggling. She dragged Meredith away.

Olivia rolled her eyes and sunk into her seat. "Well, this is a disaster," she said. "The only reason she agreed to meet me in the first place was because she thought I was a socialite! Do you think they're even coming back?"

Elliot watched Meri and Janine exit into a cab, giggling. "Nope."

Olivia started to cry. "All I wanted was to meet my goddamn sister! Is that too much to ask? Meredith already has a family, tons of friends, and everything she could ever want! I have nothing!" Jenny hugged her.

"Awww, O, I'm sorry," she said. "We'll always be here for you."

"Thanks," Olivia mumbled. "I think I'm just going home for now."

"Are you sure?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Olivia cut him off, running out of the restaraunt.


	7. In the Land of Meredith

_Verizon Wireless Voicemail Answering Service_

_"Hi, it's Olivia, and I can't come to the phone right now. Leave a message!"_

_BEEEP!_

_"Hi, Liv, it's Elliot. Call me back!"_

_"You've reached Blair Waldorf. You know what to do."_

_BEEEP!_

_"Blair, it's Serena. We need to talk."_

_"Hi, it's Olivia, and I can't come to the phone right now. Leave a message!"_

_BEEEP!_

_"Livia, it's Elliot. This is my second call. Can you please call me back? I haven't seen you since Saturday."_

_"Hi, it's Olivia, and I can't come to the phone right now. Leave a message!"_

_BEEEP!  
_

_"Olivia, are you okay? This is my third call. I really want to see you."_

_"Hey, you've reached Chuck. Leave a message and I might listen to it."_

_BEEEP!  
_

_"Chuck, it's Blair. That Benson bitch is working my last nerve. I want you to flirt with her so that when I go in for the kill, she won't know it's coming. Call me, Basshole."_

_"Hi, it's Olivia, and I can't come to the phone right now. Leave a message!"_

_BEEEP!  
_

_"It's Elliot. Again. You still haven't called me back. Me and Jenny are coming over."_

Central Park

3:12 P.M, Sunday

Jenny and Elliot walked through the park together. True, they weren't really friends (Jenny thought Elliot was too stalkerish, and Elliot thought Jenny was too obnoxious), but they were both worried about Olivia.

"Have you talked to her lately?" Jenny asked.

"No," Elliot said. "I've left her several messages. But she still hasn't called me back."

"How many?" Jenny sighed.

"Oh, just four or five, not too many," he said.

"FOUR OR FIVE?" she snapped. "Jeez, leave her alone already! Wait, I forgot. You don't know the meaning of that, do you?"

"I'm just so worried. Should we go over there?" Elliot asked.

"I guess so," Jenny agreed.

*****

"Olivia! It's Jenny!" Jenny shouted, banging on the door. "Time to get up!"

"No!" Olivia shouted. Her voice sounded muffled from the door.

"Liv? It's me," Elliot said. Olivia opened the door a crack.

"Can't you just go?" she begged. "I just want to be alone."

"We've given you a day," Jenny reminded her. "Time to quit moping over Meredith Bitch-er. I brought you a chocolate bar!" Jenny handed Olivia a Hershey's bar with almonds.

Olivia smiled a bit. Well, that was a start.

"Aren't you going to let us in?" Jenny asked. Olivia opened the door a little more. She sighed.

"I can't believe I believed Meredith," Olivia said. "I should have known she'd be a bitch. I knew it!"

"Listen, it's Meredith's fault, not yours," Elliot insisted. "If I found out I had a sibling I never knew, I'd want to spend as much time as possible getting to know them, not acting like this." He scrunched up his face and began to talk in a falsetto. "Ohemgee, I totally, like, want to hang out with you, but not, like, for real, only because you're, like, rich and popular and famous, you know?" Olivia giggled.

"Meredith took one look at me and decided I wasn't good enough for her," Olivia said. "Has that ever happened to you?"

"You bet," Jenny said. "Around here, everyone's always sizing you up, deciding where you fit in."

"Why can't we just decide that for ourselves?" Olivia wondered out loud. "What makes Blair Waldorf more popular than someone like me? Not that I want to be popular but still!"

"I think they decided all that stuff when I got mono in the fifth grade," Jenny joked. "It just sorta happened. One minute we were all friends, the next, there are cliques, groups, and hierarchies."

"Tell me about it," Olivia said. "I'm sorry, you guys. I know you probably have plenty of better things to do than watch another episode of the Olivia Sarah Benson Tragedy."

"You're middle name's Sarah?" Elliot asked. "I never knew that."

"Mmmhm."

"Well, like I said, Meredith's the one with the problem," Jenny reminded her. "Besides, thanks to how she treated you, she won't be wearing J Humphrey Designs anytime soon."

"Well, you're prettier than Meredith Baker," Elliot added.

"Yeah, right," Olivia scoffed. "Did you see her?"

"Did you see how much makeup she was wearing?" Jenny asked. "Her face looked like an ad for Clowns-R-Us."

"Is there a Clowns-R-Us?" Elliot asked.

"I don't know," Jenny said. "But Liv, you look like her. Except prettier."

"Whatever. I bet they're all laughing about me. Her, Janine, and the 100% Populars. I looked Meredith up on and her friends on MyBlog. Cassidy Ramirez, Marisa Whitman, Deena Farthy, Yvonne de la Muendes, and Allison Arbor call themselves the 100% Populars," Olivia said.

"Don't you mean MySpace?" Elliot asked.

"No, MyBlog," Olivia corrected. "MySpace isn't good enough for Meredith and her friends. There's this new website called MyBlog and apparently it's the next big thing with all the 'It Girls.' Meredith also has a profile on LookBook, which is only for models. But you know what? I think it should be called LookAtMeAndSeeHowFreakingFabulousIThinkIAmAndHowCoolIAmEvenThoughIHaveASisterNamedOliviaBensonWhoIDontGiveADamnAboutBook."

"Olivia, you're babbling," Elliot told her. But Olivia jumped up and ran over to the kitchen. She pulled out a Frappuccino and swallowed half of it in one gulp. "And since when do you drink Frappuccinos?"

"Since I do, okay?!" Olivia screamed. She put the Frappuccino back and pulled out a little thing of blueberries. "Look, it's getting late. You and Jenny should probably go. See you at school." She closed the door once they had left.

*****

"Okay, Olivia's officially freaking me out," Jenny said. "She's talking about random stuff, her hair is a mess, and she's eating everything in sight. What is up with her?"

"I think she's still upset about Meredith," Elliot asked. "What can we do?"

"Actually, I have an idea," Jenny said. "But I need to talk to my dad first. You should come too."

"All right," Elliot said, rolling his eyes.

Jenny's House

4:25 P.M

"So, why do you need to borrow my Frequent Flyer Card?" Rufus asked. "You guys aren't eloping, are you?"

"Ew!" Jenny exclaimed. "First of all, he's dating Olivia. Second of all, we don't always get along. And third, he's not my type."

Elliot nodded.

"Olivia's sister Meredith turned out to not want anything to do with her, so we're going to New Hampshire to tell her off," Elliot explained.

"You two are going to NEW HAMPSHIRE?"

"Yeah," Jenny said. "Look, I know it's kind of a big deal, but we'll leave Saturday and come back that night."

"Why exactly are you doing this again?" he asked.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "To help Olivia!"

Rufus sighed. "Fine. If it's that important to you, you can go." He reached into his wallet and handed Jenny his FF card.

"Thanks, Dad!" Jenny exclaimed.

*****

"So did you pick our seating assignments yet?" Elliot asked the next day, sitting next to Jenny at the iRanch, a local internet cafe. Olivia was still depressed and was still eating everything she saw.

"Yup," Jenny said, showing Elliot the screen of her silver iMac. "They good?" The mouse pointer hovered over the word "Submit."

"What is this?" Elliot asked. "Why are you in first class and I have a middle seat in the back of the plane? I hate backs of planes!"

"Shove it, Stabler," Jenny snapped. "I'm using my dad's miles to pay for our trip, and I had enough miles for an upgrade. If it wasn't for me, you'd be stuck at home."

"I'd rather sit next to you than sit between who will probably be some Aunt Gertrude type and a fat businessman." Jenny smirked and dragged Elliot's name into the first-class seat next to hers.

"Oh, relax," she said. "I had enough miles for an upgrade. I was just joking. Don't have a cow."

Elliot snickered. "J, you've been hanging out with your dad too much."

One Week Later

"Flight attendants, please prepare for takeoff," the pilot said. Jenny kept listening to her music and reading Teen Vogue. And humming "Keeps Getting Better". Loudly. Elliot rolled his eyes and tried to tune her out.

"Hey," he said, tapping her shoulder. "Can you maybe not hum?"

Jenny rolled her eyes and continued to hum. Actually, now, she was singing.

_Some days I'm a super bitch_

_Up to my old tricks_

_But it won't last forever_

_Next day I'm your super girl_

_Here to save the world_

_But it keeps getting better_

Elliot smacked his Coke can down on the seat tray angrily. A flight attendant rushed over.

"Excuse me, could you please keep it down?" she asked fake-sweetly. "You're disturbing some of the other passengers."

"Yeah, Elliot," Jenny said, smirking. "Have a little class."

"You are so coinceted," Elliot snapped.

"You are so obnoxious," Jenny retorted. "I don't know why Olivia dates you. You're worse than an Oxy Clean ad."

"You're worse than a political ad."

"You're worse than-"

"SHUT UP!" the person behind them shouted. Jenny and Elliot sunk back into their seats for the rest of the plane ride.

*****

Serena walked into the foyer of Blair's penthouse.

"Blair, can we talk?" Serena asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Blair scowled. "About what? How all of a sudden Olivia Benson is the coolest person in the world?"

"Look, B, whatever bizarre thing you have against her, you didn't have to sabotage the yearbook committee. Or post those rumors about her on Gossip Girl!" Serena exclaimed.

"Well, since when do you care about her anyway?" Blair snapped.

"Olivia happens to be really nice, actually, and if you'd just get to know her, I'm sure you'd like her too," Serena insisted.

"Like I'd ever be seen with her. Have you seen the way she dresses? She looks like a homeless person! And her hair is hideous! She should be on What Not To Wear. And what's up with her lip? Seriously, she should get plastic surgery," Blair snapped.

"At least Olivia's nice," Serena insisted.

"She judged me the moment she arrived here!" Blair screamed. "Did you hear her? I totally got bitchslapped-by a SOPHOMORE!"

"You know what? I would rather hang out with Olivia Benson than you! At least she cares about other people than herself!" Serena shouted before walking out of Blair's apartment fuming.

*****

"Elliot, move," Jenny snapped. "I gotta go to the bathroom.

"No way," Elliot said. "I'm watching Grey's Anatomy."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Oh, how fascinating." She reached over and shut off Elliot's seat-back TV. "Now move or I'll have to crawl over you."

"Jenny, I'm not moving, and you are not crawling over me," Elliot insisted.

"You are moving, or I'll dump my Vitamin Water over you head," she said. The same woman who told them to shut up rolled her eyes.

"Oh, for the love of God," she said. She handed Jenny and Elliot twenty dollar bills each. "Will you just quit acting like children and settle this on Dr. Phil?"

Elliot rolled his eyes and stood up to let Jenny pass.

"Thank you, Elliot Stabler," she hissed.

"You are most welcome, Jenny Humphrey," Elliot spat.

Love Of God smiled approvingly. "See what happens when you act civilized?" she pointed out.

After Jenny got back, the pilot came on the loudspeaker.

"Attention passengers on flight A328 with service to Manchester, New Hampshire, we are beginning our initial descent into the area. Please make your way back to your seats as we will be turning on the fasten seatbelt sign. We will be arriving in Manchester in approximately twenty minutes. The weather is sunny, at a mild fourty seven degrees. On behalf of Jet Blue Airlines, thank you for flying!"

Jenny leaned forward, blocking Elliot's window view.

"Uh, Jenny, I want to see the clouds, not your hair," he pointed out.

"Well, it's not my fault I got the window seat," Jenny said, even though it was :-). She leaned back though. "You know what, Stabler? This trip made me realize something."

"What?" Elliot asked, praying she would say "I'm so sorry I was totally annoying and I've realized the error of my ways and hope we can coexist civilly."

"You're such a pain in the ass," Jenny said, laughing. "I don't know why Olivia likes you. If I were her, I'd dump you like a sack of potatoes. Down a double-black-diamond ski hill. In July. During a mudslide."

"Well, I'm glad you're not Olivia," Elliot said. "Because that sounds painful." They laughed awkwardly. Was it possible that Elliot and Jenny were actually getting along?!? OMFG!

*****

"Do you know where we're going?" Elliot said, following Jenny through the average-sized Manchester Airport.

"Apparently, Meredith models for Hermann Studios. So I guess we're going there," she said, shrugging. "It's on Elm Street. Wherever that is."

"I wish Olivia was here," Elliot murmured. "She hasn't texted me back yet. I'm really worried." Jenny rolled her eyes.

"AAAAAHHH! Elliot!" she shouted. She grabbed his phone and scrolled through his messages. "'Liv, how are you?' 'Me and Jenny are going to talk to Meredith. Don't worry.' 'Livvy, please text me back.' 'We should hang out after I get back!' 'Livia, are you okay?' 'I left you a few messages. Where are you?' Jeez!" She handed him his phone back.

"She likes when I text her," he defended.

"Yeah, but she's not responding. That should tell you something!" Jenny insisted.

"She's probably at the movies or it's charging or something. Can we just go already?"

Hermann Studios

10:42 A.M

"Please put your name on the list and take a seat," a receptionist said, pushing a clipboard at Jenny and Elliot.

"Oh, we're not here for a shoot. Is Meredith Baker around?" Jenny asked the receptionist, looking around at the massive, shiny lobby. It looked kind of like an Apple store. Glamorous women and hot men lounged on luxurious, soft-looking couches reading _Vogue _and _InStyle. _

"She's in a shoot right now. But you're welcome to wait in here, or in the cafe. It's down the hall, to the left," she said.

"Thanks," Jenny and Elliot said at the same time, walking in that direction. Jenny pushed open a large silver door and entered the cafe.

"Whoa," Elliot breathed. The "cafe" looked more like a hip nightclub than a normal coffee shop. There was a sushi bar, cappuccino stand, salad bar, sandwich shoppe (yes, that's shoppe with an e), Pinkberry machine, Evian dispenser, and pretty much everything else you could need piled into a shiny, tall room.

Across the room, Katie McAfee, Janine Sanders, and Olivia Gallagher sat eating california rolls and drinking iced cappuccinos.

"Remind me not to drink any more cappuccinos," Olivia G. said. "I am so fat." She rubbed her flat stomach, which was covered by a satin Oscar de la Renta club dress.

"You are not fat," Katie protested, slapping her nonexistent thighs. "I'm fat. But I have an even bigger issue. Who should I bring to the party tonight?"

"I thought you were bringing your boyfriend," Olivia G. reminded her. "Or are you already over? To me, boys are like tissues: use once and discard immediately."

"No," Katie said. "I mean bags. Should I bring Dolce, Louis, or Vera?"

"I'm bringing my Dolce," Janine said. "So that's out."

"Vera Wang is so last season," Olivia G. said cooly. "Looks like a Louis night."

"Or we could stop at Bloomie's on the way and pick up something," Janine suggested. "Ehmagod. It's like, return of the dead zombies!" She pointed at Jenny and Elliot.

"Ew!" Olivia G. shouted. "Who the hell are they? Total fashion victims."

"They're that stupid wannabe Olivia Benson's friends. The blonde's a fashion designer, but her designs are so slutty. And the guy looks like an elf," Janine insisted.

"Ehmagod, they do," Olivia G. agreed. "We should call them Elfie and Slutty." Everyone nodded.

"That Benson girl should change her name," Olivia G. insisted. "If she's a loser, she does not deserve to have the same name as me." Janine nodded and started walking towards them.

"Don't get contaminated," Katie called before high-fiving Olivia G. triumphantly. They snickered as they watched Jenny and Elliot wander around aimlessly.

"Elfie!" Janine shouted, hugging Elliot. "And Slutty!" She hugged Jenny next.

"Excuh-use me?" Jenny snapped. OMFG, seriously?!?

Janine snickered. "Looks like you guys look just the same! Wait, I know your real names. Lemme guess." She pointed at Jenny. "Joanne, right? And you're Ellen." She pointed at Elliot. "I am so sorry for you. Are you a drag queen or something?"

"It's Elliot," Elliot insisted. "And she's Jenny."

"Ew, I hate the name Elliot. It's, like, dork-o-rama!" Janine exclaimed.

"Look, we need to talk to Meredith," Jenny insisted. "Do you know where she is?"

"She's in a test shoot," Janine said. "Room 304. What do you need to tell her?" She smirked as she looked down upon Elliot and Jenny-literally. She was at least six feet. Hey, she was eighteen and a model.

"It's about Olivia," Elliot said.

"Olivia Gallagher? She's over there." Janine pointed at where Katie and Olivia G. were laughing.

"No, Olivia Benson," Jenny corrected. "You know, Meredith's sister."

"Oh. Right." Janine rolled her eyes. "Have fun."

Elliot rolled his eyes as he followed Jenny out of the cafe. "Well, that went well," he said sarcastically.

"Elfie and Slutty? Seriously?" Jenny said, laughing. "You'd think she'd come up with something more original."

"Well, she's not really the brightest bulb in the tree," Elliot reminded her. "I mean she is a blonde."

"Hey!" Jenny protested. She pointed at her head. "Hello?!?"

"Sorry," Elliot said. "I never noticed."

Outside of room 304, Jenny and Elliot heard loud music playing. Jenny peered through the window. Inside, Meredith was modeling in front of a green screen wearing a Diane von Furstenburg T-shirt dress, black Christian Louboutin pumps, heavy-looking gold necklaces, and bangles. Five girls wearing designer clothes were snapping pictures with their cell phones and giggling.

"Okay, that's a wrap!" the photographer shouted. Jenny and Elliot took that as their cue to enter.

Meredith's eyes narrowed when she saw them.

"Who are they?" a blonde girl holding an iPhone and a Balenciaga bag whispered to her friend, a curvy Hispanic girl wearing a tight Juicy Couture dress and Hollywould espadrilles and texting on her Sidekick LX.

"No clue," Juicy said.

Meredith strutted (yes, strutted) up to Jenny and Elliot. "I'm sorry, this is a closed shoot," she snapped.

"We need to talk to you," Elliot insisted. "Got a minute."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Girls, Fabia will escort you to my dressing room. Take whatever you like. I just need to take care of something." The five girls walked off. "What do you want?" she hissed.

"Olivia's really upset," Jenny said.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "It's because her yogurt and sweet potato diet failed, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Elliot asked. He had never once saw Olivia eat yogurt. Or sweet potatoes. She must be talking about that Olivia Gallagher girl. "No, Olivia Benson."

"Who's Olivia Benson?" Meredith snorted, spraying perfume in her hair. Jenny sneezed.

"Your sister!" Elliot shouted. "She's freaking out because you didn't give her the time of day and I'm really worried!"

"Well, it's not my fault she's so insecure," Meredith said cooly. "She should take some Valium and get over it."

"What is your deal?" Jenny snapped. "She doesn't have any family! Her mom is rarely home! You're all she's got, and you don't even care."

Meredith stared her down. "You think I want to act like this? Olivia's mother-my mother-abandoned me when I was two. For years I asked my adopted parents if I could meet my real mom, but they said she was sick. So I worked on putting as much distance as possible between me and the Bensons. And now Olivia's back in my life after I've already made a life for myself! I can't let myself get close to her. Because that would mess up everything I've worked for."

"I didn't realize-" Jenny started

"Well, why would you?" Meredith snapped. "You already have a family that loves you. Look, I gotta go." She pulled out her blue LG Chocolate and fired off a text to one of her friends. "I'll call Olivia this weekend and apologize, okay? I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Elliot said. "Jenny, we should go. We're going to be late." Jenny nodded.

"Bye, Meredith," she called.

Well, who knew that Meredith's life had problems, too?


	8. It Might Happen One Night

_"S.O.C.K productions presents...Coffee Shop Blues!" _

Olivia turned the volume up as she watched one of the YouTube videos she had made with her old friends last year. S.O.C.K Productions stood for Sophie, Olivia, Catherine, and Karlie (Layne lived across town and went to a different school).

_"Welcome to Nobucks, all the cheap, crappy coffee you can get! I'm Olivia, what can I get for you today?" _Freshman Olivia asked in the video, grinning.

_"Small iced coffee, please," _Freshman Sophie said.

_"Okay, a tall iced coffee?" _Olivia asked.

_"No, a small," _Sophie corrected.

_"We don't have smalls, we only have talls," _Olivia said.

_"That's stupid!"_ Sophie screamed. _"Manager!" _Freshman Catherine walked out.

_"Is there a problem?" _Catherine asked.

_"I want a small," _Sophie said. _"But apparently that's too difficult. That's S-M-A-L-L, not T-A-L-L."_

_"We don't have smalls," _Catherine insisted.

_"That's ridiculous!" _Sophie said. _"How can you not have smalls?"_

Freshman Karlie walked out in a barista robe. _"We have smalls, but we call them talls."_

Sophie had a faux-baffled expression on her face. _"That's crazy!"_

Olivia smirked and delivered the final line of the skit. _"That's marketing, babe,"_ she said. _"Get used to it."_

Sophie banged her head against the wall.

_"Is it off yet?" _Sophie's dad asked from behind the camera.

_"Um..." _Olivia walked up to the camera. _"The light's still on."_

At this point, Catherine and Karlie were eating sugar straight from the packets.

_"Ehmagod, that's disgusting!" _Sophie screamed.

_"The camera's still on!" _Olivia told them. Catherine dropped the sugar packet.

_"Wait, you're filming this?" _Catherine asked. _"Nooooo!" _

Olivia burst out laughing in the video. _"How do you turn it off?" _She began pressing buttons. _"Okay, I think I got it." _The screen went black. Olivia started to cry. She missed her old friends so much. If Sophie, Catherine, Karlie, and Layne were there for the whole Meredith thing, they would have dropped ice cream down her shirt or replace her hair spray with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray or something.

Wait. There was one option. She was only a few blocks away from Grand Central. If she took a train to Monroe, she'd be playing Dance Dance Revolution at Sophie's by dinnertime.

_Forgetting about someone? _she thought. She couldn't leave without at least saying goodbye to Elliot. The only problem was, he wasn't picking up his phone.

_El, _she wrote, _I'm going back to Monroe. Don't look for me. Love you. -O_

She stuck the letter in the mail chute, grabbed her bag, and left.

*****

On the cab ride back to his house, Elliot's phone rang. PHOEBE flashed on the screen. "Hey, Phebes," he said. "What's up?"

"Elliot, where are you?" Phoebe asked, sounding panicked.

"Almost home," he said.

"You need to go to Grand Central Station right now," she commanded.

"What? Why?"

"It's Olivia. She went back home," Phoebe said. "She left a note for you."

"Oh my God," Elliot said. "Hey, can you go to Grand Central Station?" he asked the cabbie. The cabbie nodded and turned around. Elliot hoped he wouldn't be too late.

*****

Olivia stood in line at the Nassau train station, waiting to buy a transfer ticket to Monroe. All the way over here, she had tried not to think about Elliot, Jenny, Eric, Casey, John, Alex, Jocelyn, Serena, Liana or any of her new friends. She only had one goal: to get away.

"Next," the ticket person said. Olivia stepped forward.

"That'll be seventy five dollars, miss," he said, sounding bored.

"Seventy five?" Olivia exclaimed. "Could you check again?" She only had twenty five dollars left, and that wasn't even enough to go back home.

"Seventy five," he confirmed.

"Uh, could you hold on a second?" Olivia raced to the waiting area. She dumped out her bag. Yup, she had a twenty dollar bill, a five dollar bill, and a dusty quarter. Yipee.

She couldn't believe she was stuck in Nassau. If she wasn't really stuck here, she would have laughed. It was sooo ironic. She sat down on the seat and looked out the window. What else could she do?

"Olivia!" she heard. Olivia spun around. "Oh my God. Are you okay?" Elliot asked her. Olivia shook her head and started to cry.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I could ask the same thing," Elliot said. "Why would you just take off like that?"

"I had to," Olivia mumbled. "I couldn't stand being at home anymore."

"Jenny and I talked to Meredith," Elliot said. "We flew there this morning. Phoebe told me about the note you left."

"Well, it's not like anyone would miss me," Olivia said.

Elliot put an arm around her. "I would miss you," he said. "I definitely would." He checked his watch. "Let's go home," he suggested.

Olivia nodded. "I don't have enough money," she admitted. "That's why I was stuck here."

"It's okay, I'll get it," Elliot said. "I borrowed Phoebe's credit card for the trip."

"What trip?" Olivia asked. Oops. Elliot forgot to tell her about the NH detour.

"Me and Jenny went to New Hampshire to confront Meredith. She said she was sorry. I'll give you the details at home, all right?"

"Sure," Olivia said. "Sorry for making you search all over the state for me."

"It's okay. I'm always here for you."

*****

The sun was starting to set as Olivia and Elliot's train pulled into Grand Central station. Everyone was heading in for a while before going out, so it was relatively quiet and peaceful.

"Wow," Olivia said quietly. "That's really pretty."

"Yeah," Elliot agreed. They turned the corner and walked into Central Park Place, Elliot's apartment complex.

"Wait, I thought I was going home," Olivia said, stopping at the garden.

"No way! You might take off again," Elliot insisted. Olivia rolled her eyes playfully.

"Oh, Elliot. I'm glad I'm not Jenny, because that would totally piss her off," Olivia joked. "She hates that cheesy stuff."

"Jenny told me that if she was you, she'd dump you like a sack of potatoes in a muddy gutter or something," Elliot said. They pushed the door open.

Olivia giggled. "Oooh, burn." As they walked into the elevator, they passed old, crotchety Mrs. Quimby. She tsked at them and moved past without a word, luckily.

"What floor do you live on?" Olivia asked.

"Nine, don't you remember?" Elliot asked. The doors opened and Olivia followed Elliot down the hallway. "Phoebe's having her book club meeting tonight."

Phoebe opened the door. She was wearing a DKNY Jeans dress and patent leather pumps. Olivia thought she was a little overdressed for a book club meeting.

"Olivia! You're alive!" Phoebe screamed, hugging Olivia. "I'm so glad you're here. Come in!" Phoebe had hung streamers everywhere, put glowing fiber optic lamps on all the desks, and set out plates of appetizers on the coffee table. In the middle of the coffee table were the four Twilight books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Paparazzi by Lady Gaga played from Phoebe's iHome.

"Are you having a book club meeting or a party?" Elliot asked, examining the cover of Breaking Dawn. Phoebe snatched it away.

"Don't touch!" she snapped. "I just bought it and I don't want fingerprints on the cover." She wiped it clean with an eyeglass rag. "The book club girls are gonna be here any minute, so you guys should hang out in the kitchen or the office.

"Okay," Elliot said. "Liv, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, actually, I am," Olivia admitted.

Elliot opened the fridge. "Phoebe pretty much cleaned out the fridge, but we have leftover Chinese food. Do you like moo shu pork?"

"That's my favorite!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Mine too," Elliot agreed. They ate their Chinese food.

The doorbell rang suddenly. Elliot opened the door and in walked a group of girls wearing stylish clothes. Olivia guessed it was Phoebe's book club.

"Ehmagoooood!" Phoebe squealed. "Come in! Let's talk about Twilight."

"OMG, Edward Cullen is soooo hot. I want to like, marry him," one of Phoebe's friends said. Elliot rolled his eyes as Phoebe stormed into the kitchen. She opened the oven door and pulled out a shrimp and artichoke pizza.

"Shrimp and artichokes?" Elliot asked. Phoebe rolled his eyes.

"Don't breathe on it," she snapped. "I'm not having all my book club friends get sick."

"Relax," Elliot sighed.

"G2G," Phoebe said. They heard a burst of laughter.

"Nate Archibald totes looks like Edward," one of Phoebe's friends said. "Too bad he's dating Vanessa."

Olivia giggled.

"Hey, are those Twilight books any good?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah," Olivia said. "My friend Sophie is obsessed with them. We should introduce her to Phoebe."

"Is that one of the girls from the coffee shop video?"

"You saw that?" Olivia asked.

"I saw that, and Creative Marketing, Faultline Homes, and Laundry Day. I liked Faultline Homes, but I wasn't so big on the blonde wig you wore."

Olivia snickered. She couldn't believe Sophie had talked her into wearing a blonde wig to play a California realtor. The earthquake part was funny, though. Sophie's dad (S.O.C.K Productions' unofficial cameraman) had shook the camera at the end to mimic an earthquake and Olivia went, "Uh oh, there goes another one!"

There was a knock at the door. Olivia and Elliot raced over. A UPS guy stood there, holding a package.

"Package for, uh, Olivia Benson," UPS guy said. "Your doorman said you'd be here."

"Who's it from?" she asked, just to make sure someone didn't send her a bomb or anthrax or something.

"Meredith Baker," the UPS guy said. "Here you go." Olivia took the package and placed it on the floor. When she opened it, she saw a note and tons of clothes.

_Hey Olivia,_

_Sorry I was a total bitch when I saw you! I was going through some tough stuff. Anyway, I hope that you can get over that and we can hang out sometime!_

_-Meri_

_PS: Enjoy the clothes! They're comps from my last shoot. _

_PPS: If you don't like these samples, I have tons more._

_PPPS: Text me!!!_

Olivia started pulling clothes out of the box. Unfortunately, most of them were so not her. In fact, a few items were so not her style, they should have "ANTI-OLIVIA BENSON" on the label. She pulled out a pinstripe Charlotte Ronson shirtdress that looked like something a farm girl might wear. She also spotted a red patent leather Dolce and Gabbanna tote, hot pink heels, and a linen dress with green polka dots. Like she'd ever wear that stuff.

"Did you order those clothes online?" Elliot asked. Olivia shook her head.

"Meredith Baker sent them to me," she answered. "This is cute!" She held up a satiny maroon Valentino halter dress.

"That is pretty," Elliot agreed.

"We should have a clothes auction. Give away all the fugly stuff," Olivia joked.

"That's a good idea," Elliot said, surprisingly. "Like, you would never wear this outfit." He pulled out a frayed Seven jean skirt and paired it with a Juicy "Vote Green" T-shirt and a gingham Free People blazer. "But Casey would love it."

"Yeah," Olivia said. "And Jenny would love this Prada purse. But I just don't get why you would pay five hundred dollars for crinkled nylon."

"Who would like this?" Elliot held up a brown leather Guess tote.

"Alex," she said. "She's conservative-chic."

"What are you?" Elliot asked.

Olivia shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Fine," Olivia sighed. "A conglomerate."

"What's that?" Elliot asked.

Olivia giggled. "Come on, it's not computer programming. A conglomerate is a type of rock that's like a mish-mash of all other rocks and cement and fossils and stuff. That's what I am, a mix of all my friends' styles."

"What are your friends' styles?" Elliot pressed.

"Well, Sophie's kind of flashy 80's chic. She'll buy anything if it's fuzzy, neon, or sparkly."

"That explains the purple skinny jeans while Sophie was here," Elliot muttered.

"Catherine likes anything with a designer label on it, but she can't afford that many designer things, so she buys knockoffs," Olivia continued. "Karlie McConners wears all pastels and Converse sneakers. Layne Simon is all Abercrombie, all the time."

"So you're a mix of everyone's styles?" Elliot asked. Olivia nodded and pulled out a silky blue Herve Leger tube dress and a red chiffon Lanvin minidress. Wow, Meri sure wore a lot of dresses.

"I like the red one," Elliot said. "You should try it on." Olivia shrugged.

"Maybe," she said. It wasn't like she had any place to wear it, after all. True, there was the yearbook party in June, but this was a winter dress.

"You should," he urged.

"It would make me look fat," Olivia protested. "It has ruffles."

"How do you know? You haven't tried it on," Elliot pointed out. "I think it looks nice. Besides, who's house are we at again?"

"Then I'm going home," Olivia half-joked. She walked towards the door.

"Why don't you just try it on?" Elliot asked, standing in front of the door.

"Fine," Olivia sighed. She went into the Stabler's 80-square foot main bathroom and slipped on the dress, expecting it to make her look like an overstuffed tomato. Surprisingly, it looked pretty. Too bad she wasn't Serena with tons of parties to go to and people to see. The beautiful, $800 Lanvin dress was destined for a life (and eventual tragic death by mothballs, twenty years later) in the back of her closet.

_Meredith should have kept it,_ Olivia thought._ It would go to better use there. _Then again, she was Meredith Baker. She probably already had it-in every color, size, and legnth.

Someone banged on the door. "Can you hurry up?" one of Phoebe's friends snapped. Olivia rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Omigod, is that the Lanvin dress featured in Teen Vogue last month?" she asked. Olivia shrugged.

The girl ran into the living room, grabbed a magazine, and held it up to her. "No way, that is so the dress! I heard there's like, a two year waiting list for it! How did you get it?" she asked, astonished.

"Meredith Baker sent it to me," she bragged. She couldn't believe what she was saying. Name dropping and wearing designer dresses were something Olivia never, ever, ever did.

"Ehmagod, you are amazing," Phoebe's friend said. "What's your name? You are officially my new best friend."

"It's Olivi-"

"Okay, Olivie, you have to text me! Deff!" She ran off, squealing.

Elliot stood behind her. "I take it you just met Charlene," he said.

"I take it I'm her new best friend. And my name's Olivie." Elliot laughed.

"Wow, that dress is beautiful," he said.

"Well, when it's featured in Teen Vogue, what could go wrong?" she joked. "Seriously, what do you really think?"

"I think it's stunning," Elliot insisted. "Really, you look gorgeous."

Olivia smiled. "Thanks, but it's not like I have any place to wear it."

Phoebe suddenly showed up. "Hey, what about the Valentine's Day ball next week at the country club?" she asked. "You could take Olivia."

"I completely forgot about that!" Elliot exclaimed. "Liv, want to come?"

"Sure!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Just as long as you don't wear those shoes," Phoebe said, pointing to Olivia's Uggs. "I'm sure we'll find something in here." She went for the comp box.

"How about these?" Olivia held up a pair of black flats.

"I was thinking silver heels. How about these Jimmy Choos?" Phoebe held up a pair of silver Jimmy Choo heels. "They look like they'll fit. What size are you?"

"Seven," Olivia answered.

"Perf," Phoebe said. She handed Olivia the shoes and a matching Zac Posen clutch. "Oooh, can I have this?" She held up a silver Fendi weekend bag that she saw on the Saks Fifth website for two thousand dollars.

"Yeah, sure, whatev," Olivia said. "I want the navy Missoni bolero, though. And the Coach sneakers, and the Rock and Republic jeans."

"What about the Gucci duffel?" Elliot asked. Olivia's eyes lit up.

"I love it!" she exclaimed. "What about these?" She put on a pair of large Chanel sunglasses and a Prada bucket hat.

"You look like Audrey Hepburn," Phoebe said. "You should wear red lipstick."

Olivia shook her head. "No way!"

"And maybe you should dye your hair black," she continued.

"I like my hair," Olivia protested. "It's nice."

"Hey, what are you doing this summer?" Elliot suddenly asked.

Olivia shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Have you ever thought of being a CIT?"

"You mean, at a camp?" Olivia asked.

Elliot rolled his eyes. "No, Liv, at the White House. Of course at a camp!"

"Me and Sophie talked about it once," Olivia said. "That would be fun. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, me, Casey, Alex, John and I go to Camp Birch Hill in New Hampshire, and next year we're going to be CITs! I'd really like it if maybe you and Jenny came too. You could bring Sophie also," he suggested. "It would be fun. I know a ton of people there." He pulled out his phone and showed Olivia his pictures. "This is Jackson, Will, Nick, Jess, Bethany, and Ana."

"Who are they?" she asked, pointing to some snobby looking girls who were in behind of the smiling crowd. Elliot made a face.

"That's Taylor, Chloe, Kim, Dani, and Ashley," he said. "They're kind of the Blair Waldorfs of camp."

"Taylor has purple hair," Olivia pointed out. That fact made her burst out laughing for no reason.

"So, are you in?" Elliot asked. Olivia nodded.

"Sure, why not?" she said. "I'll ask Jenny and Sophie."

"Great," Elliot said. "This is gonna be the best summer yet."


	9. The Insiders

**A/N: Hello, it's been a while!!! LOL! Sorry, I've been busy working on High School Never Ends. Regarding that story, there WILL be a sequel. Actually 2: "The Grass Is Greener" and "As Seen On TV." I'm posting information about those stories in High School Never Ends, the sequel. And at the ball, you will hear the name Miles Baume. Miles will return someday. That's all I'm saying. **

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**Socialista**

**6:56 P.M**

"Thanks," Blair said, grabbing her martini from the waiter.

Chuck leaned back. "So, why should I waste my time flirting with some dorky sophomore? I have better things to do." He grinned lasciviously. "Like you."

Blair rolled her eyes. Chuck was such a perv. They used to go out, but now they were just friends. "Because, Bass, Olivia Benson is the bane of my existence."

"Who's Olivia Benson?" Chuck asked. "I thought Vanessa was the bane of your existence, and we all know how that turned out."

"This new girl who thinks she's all that," Blair snapped. "All you need to know is, for some weird reason, she's going out with Elliot Stabler. So if it looks like you guys are flirting on Gossip Girl, they'll be over, and Olivia will be so devastated she'll probably move back to Weirdville or wherever she came from."

"What does she look like?" Chuck asked. Blair showed Chuck her picture. "Sorry, Blair, but I don't think I can flirt with her."

"I know her style leaves a lot to be desired, but you don't have to be serious. You just need to pretend to flirt with her so I can get a good picture," Blair insisted.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "All right. For you. Where is she going tonight?" he asked.

"The Valentine's Day Ball at the Battery Park country club," Blair answered. "At eight."

Chuck raised his glass. "I'll be there," he said. "I'll try not to throw up when I see her. How much is that stupid sweater she's wearing, anyway, five bucks?"

"Two," Blair joked snidely. She snickered.

"Meet you at eight," Chuck said before they both stood up, leaving.

**Valentine's Day Ball**

**8:24 P.M**

"Hi, Mrs. Stabler," Olivia introduced herself. Elliot's mom, Bernadette, shook her hand.

"Hello, Olivia," she said. "It's great to finally meet you. Alvin, will you get my coat?" Elliot's dad handed Bernadette her Dior fur jacket. Even though the Stablers lived on the West Side, if anyone saw Bernadette and Alvin, they would have sworn they were born and raised on East 60th and Park. They had Waterford crystal vases, flat screen TVs, and designer clothes. And Olivia could have sworn Elliot's mom was wearing a Harry Winston wedding ring.

"Oh, great," Olivia said.

"What?" Elliot asked.

"Blair's here," she groaned. "I didn't know she was coming!"

"Me neither," Elliot agreed. "But Serena's here." He pointed to where a photographer was snapping pictures of Serena and Poppy Lifton. "And Liana." Across the room, Liana was being photographed as well.

"I think she'll be Serena's replacement after she graduates," Olivia theorized. "Liana is like a brunette version of Serena, only she's a singer instead of a model."

Elliot looked around. "I'll go hang our coats up, okay?"

Olivia nodded and went to the buffet table. She grabbed a Vitamin Water mixed with seltzer (the latest It Mocktail) in a champagne flute.

"Well, hello," she heard. Her head snapped up.

"Who are you?" Olivia demanded.

"Chuck Bass. A pleasure to meet you." Olivia turned around.

"Okay, you can go now," she snapped. Guys like Chuck really pissed her off.

"Without asking you for a dance?" Chuck continued. "Come on."

"No thank you," Olivia said.

"Maybe a rain check then."

"Did you freaking hear me? Get away from me, creep!" she yelled, dumping her Vitamin Water over his head just as Blair was taking a picture. "Ugh!"

*****

"Well, that went well," Chuck snapped. "I told you that was a bad idea."

Blair smirked as she looked at the picture she took of Olivia dumping Vitamin Water on his head.

"You better delete that," he warned.

Blair snickered. "I can't believe someone turned down Chuck Bass," she said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he answered. "You were right. She's a bitch." He sipped his scotch resentfully.

"Exactly! So what should we do?" Blair asked.

"Leave her alone," Chuck responded. "She's not worth it. There are a ton of more people we could plot against."

Blair's jaw dropped. "What? What are you saying? Are you the same Chuck who plotted against Georgina last year?"

"That was different," Chuck said. "Like I said, I've got a lot going on right now. Next week I've got a date with the Countess of Bulgaria."

"So you're just going to give up?" Blair said.

Chuck shrugged. "I wouldn't put it that way. I'd say we're opening up a spot in our schedule."

"Who's our next victim?" Blair asked.

"I don't know. How about...Liana Harris?" Chuck suggested. "Weren't you the one who came up with her 'Hairy Harris' nickname after her hair-don't last year?"

"She's moving back to B-ew-verly Hills after graduation," Blair said. "Not worth it. Next?"

"Well, I hear she's keeping a pretty incriminating secret," Chuck said. "You know the Lindsey fund? My sources tell me Lindsey was her sister, and that's why her and Creepy No-Name Boy fight all the time."

Blair rolled her eyes "Bo-ring. We already investigated that two years ago."

"Well, I know why Creepy No-Name Boy was expelled," Chuck said. "Apparently he gave Little J a pecan cookie back in eighth grade and didn't tell her it had pecans in it. She had to go to the hospital and Rufus called the Headmistress."

"How do you know all this?" Blair said.

"I have my sources," Chuck responded.

*****

"Did he have to bring _her_?" Bernadette Stabler asked quietly, watching Elliot and Olivia laugh with Serena van der Woodsen. "I mean, what was wrong with Kathy from last year? Her mother donated four hundred thousand dollars to AIDS in Africa."

"Hush, darling," Richard Stabler said. "We were all allowed a plus one. Phoebe brought Wes Anderson."

Bernadette shook her head. "We didn't raise our kids this way," she insisted. "Dating common middle-class people? Where is this, New Hampshire?"

"Bernie, our kids can date whoever they want," Richard assured her.

"What's next, going to clubs like the van der Woodsen girl and the Harris girl?" Bernadette asked. "Why don't Olivia and Wes date each other and leave my kids to find people more their own level?"

"Mom?" Elliot asked. "What are you talking about?"

Richard sighed. "Elliot, it's nothing."

"Were you just saying that Olivia isn't good enough for me?" Elliot asked. "Mom, you know that's not true."

"Elliot," Bernadette hissed. "Not now."

"Why? It's as good as time as ever."

"Will you just _look _at her? She oozes fake," Bernadette said dramatically, watching her laugh over something with Liana. "Of course she's friends with that Harris girl. I used to be friends with Tanya Barnaby, but she married that Ken-wannabe film producer Nicholas Harris and moved to Beverly Hills."

"Mom, Liana's not that bad, and her parents are pretty nice," Elliot insisted. "And as for Olivia, you can't stop me from dating her."

"We just want the best for you," Bernadette said.

"No, you want the best for your reputation," Elliot corrected. "Just because she's from Monroe and doesn't have the last name Rockefeller or Vanderbilt doesn't mean she's a bad person. In fact, she's the only girl I've gone out with that _you _didn't arrange for me. News flash, it's the twenty first century, and it's a little late for the whole arranged-marriage thing, okay?" He stomped off.

"So, I was at Harper Studios the other day, you know, cuz I'm doing the whole MC thing for Teen Choice Awards," Liana was saying. "And this British dude walks in, Miles Whatever. Baume. Miles Baume. Anyhoozle, he's a freshman in college."

"Was he hot?" Gina Moore, a sophomore interrupted.

"I guess, if you like the whole Simon Cowell look. He's a freshman in college, which is not that much older than us, but he's so pretentious. He wasn't even a judge or a producer, but every two lines, he'd go 'You haaave no spirit! No charactuh! None!'" Liana imitated a British accent hilariously. "I swear, I was waiting for him to put his hand on his chest and say 'T'ew be or not t'ew be...THAHT is the question!'" Everyone burst out laughing. Her pink LG Venus beeped. "Hey, Lowell just texted me. Apparently Miles wants to 'help' me work on my 'on stage charisma.'" She wrinkled her nose in contempt and called her brother back.

"Hey, Lowell," she said. "Tell El Desperado over there to shove his 'on stage charisma' down his estophagus." Olivia cracked up. She hung up. A few moments later, her phone rang.

_BAUME, MILES _flashed on the screen.

"Nooo! Lowell gave him my cell number! I'm gonna kill that creep," Liana said.

"Answer it! Answer it!" Christina Baker, Gina's BFF, shouted.

Liana put her phone on speaker and answered it in a Southern accent. "Hey, y'all, it's Savannah from way out yonder," she answered. "How may I help y'all?"

"Liana?" Miles said.

_Wow, he is pretentious sounding, _Olivia thought.

"When I told you to practice your skills, I was thinking more West Bank than West Virginia," Miles said, chuckling. "Anyway, your brother told me you'd be delighted to take me up on my offer for lessons?"

"I'm sorry, he said what?" Liana said.

"That you'd be delighted to-"

"Okay, okay, okay, first of all, my brother isn't exactly the most reliable person in the world, so whatever he says, just do the opposite," Liana said. "And second of all, you're not the producer, you're not a director, and you're only three years older than me, so don't act like some jaded filmmaker who's seen it all when the real truth is that you have a major stick up your ass. And third of all, are you hitting on me or something?"

"Olivia," Elliot said. "Any chance we can get out of here?"

"What's up?" Olivia asked. Gina, Catherine, and some other girls were watching in astonishment as Liana tossed out one-liners to the British actor dude.

"My mom said you're not good enough for me," Elliot said. "Like I care. How come Phoebe can do whatever the hell she wants but my mom treats me like I'm going to ruin our family?"

"Well, I don't want to come in between you and your parents-"

"Please," Elliot said. "My dad's an asshole, and my mom acts like she's some high society hostess. You're the only one who's really...there in my life. We'll just have to work around them. What does your mom say?"

"My mom?" Olivia stared blankly.

"Yeah, you know, the person who gave birth to you?"

"She doesn't know," Olivia said. "We communicate by notes, El. She's gone almost all the time. I tell her when I'm going to see Sophie or to a party something. We literally never talk. Even if I tried, it's not like she would listen."

"That's awful," Elliot said. "You're always welcome at my house. You know Phoebe loves you. Except she might try to give you a makeover."

"Well, things on the home front aren't so good there, either," Olivia said, snickering. "What do we do?"

"I guess we just have to ride it out for the next two years," Elliot said. "Wanna go get some ice cream?"

"Yeah," Olivia said.

*****

"So, what _do _we do? I mean, there's no way I'm going home tonight," Elliot said.

"Hmmm," Olivia said. "Well, actually I was going up to the country for the weekend," Olivia said. "By country I mean Monroe. I'm staying at Sophie's. I can't wait to see Catherine Marline." Catherine, or "Cat," was another one of Olivia's best friends. She was a little wacky, but all of her friends were slightly wacky. In fact, they all had the same bumper sticker on their Facebooks: "We'll be the ones causing trouble in the nursing home."

"Maybe you could stay at Munch's or something," Olivia suggested. "Or Jenny's. Even the van der Woodsens wouldn't mind."

"Ew, with Chuck?" Elliot said in disgust.

"Never mind. You know he tried to seduce me?" She snickered. "Just another one of his and Blair's plots. And Liana's playing telephone with her brother and this British dude."

"Wow, what an interesting life," Elliot joked. "To all the craziness of New York." He raised his spoon in a toast.

"To New York!"


	10. It's Nothing Personal Part 1

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been pretty busy! Anyway, here's the final chapter of "The New Girl." This is just the first part, kind of like those two hour season finales some shows have. For those of you who have read "High School Never Ends," you may notice a couple familiar characters. And I don't know the slightest thing about business, so don't blame me. Oh, and remember how Liv calls Harris an unattractive sex addict that lives with his mom in French in ch 2 of "High School Never Ends?" Yeah, that's explained here.  
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**A Few Months Later**

_Gossip Girl Voiceover_

_As the school year draws to a close, the underclassmen are free to rule the school. But more importantly, it's also time for the interschool sophomore project. This year, our little sophomores are running their own branches of a randomly picked business with students from Horace Mann. The group who makes the most money will not only recieve four credits, but also a letter of reccomendation from Warren Buffet. Nobody said we're not ambitious.  
_

"Class, settle down," Headmistress Queller instructed. The sophomore class of Constance Billard/St. Judes quieted down, though it wasn't easy. Summer was around the corner, their senior friends were graduating, and gossip was abuzz.

"Omigod, at Nate's after-grad party, a Gossip Girl blast said that Blair slept with Chuck's uncle!" Christina Romano, an obnoxious redhead, chattered.

Olivia rolled her eyes at Elliot.

"As you know, the sophomore project this year is that each group will run your own branch of a business. You'll have to do as real business owners would do. That means attend to customers, market your assigned business, and, if neccessary, declare bankrupcy. This year, you will be paired with students from Horace Mann. For the next week, you will work together and maintain a successful business. I will now read the groups."

"Jenny!" a group of girls squealed. "I hope you're in my group." After being crowned the new queen, everyone was always buzzing around Jenny Humphrey. Jenny had chosen Olivia as her "lady in waiting," but they refused to be exclusive, bitchy or catty. Things had improved signifigantly at Constance.

"Yeah, me too," Jenny fibbed. Truth be told, they were way too annoying.

"Group One is Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler, Christina Romano..." Olivia rolled her eyes again. Great. She'd be stuck with _her _for a week.

"....Richard White, Melinda Warner, Dale Stucky, and Jenny Humphrey. Your partner group from Horace Mann is Candice Hartley, Madison McGibbons, Matthew Parker, Tyler Berman, Danielle Beck, Kimberly Greyleck, and Nicholas Havisham," Headmistress Queller read.

"Dale _Stucky?" _Olivia asked, giggling. "Who the hell is Dale Stucky? It sounds like a cartoon character!"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Only the most obnoxious sophomore ever. Haven't you heard Blair or the Mean Girls say 'quit pulling a Stucky' to Nelly Yuki?" she asked.

"No," Olivia said. "I don't talk to Blair, remember?"

"Yeah, well, you'll see what I mean," Jenny said cryptically. Headmistress Queller read the rest of the groups. "The packet you recieved will tell you your company."

Olivia flipped through her group's. "Drumroll, please...we are working for...Geico. Great," Olivia said sarcastically. "How exciting."

"Aw, come on, car insurance is FUN!" a squeaky choir-boy voice interjected. Olivia turned around, facing a short blonde boy. He looked to be about 10. Olivia fought the urge to direct him to the elementary wing.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Hi, Dale."

"Hi, Jenny!" Dale squeaked."This assignment is awesome, don't you think? I think if we pool our efforts and work together, bing bang bong, we can win this sucker!"

"Yeah, I guess," Jenny said. "Let's wait for the Horace Mann kids to get here and then we'll vote on a CEO."

"Omigosh, hey, Olivia," Melinda said. "I'm so glad we're in the same group."

"Me too! I just hate that we have to work for Geico."

"Oh well, an A's an A," Melinda shrugged. She was on the Honor Council, Forensics Club, Academic Bowl, Latin Team, Debate Team, and Science Society.

Christina stood off to the side popping her gum. The only person missing was...Richard Whatever.

"Hello," a guy said slowly. WTF? This was New York, not the Court of Wales. Who talked like that? Seriously? He sounded like a guy from the Sopranos.

Christina waved.

"Hey, so we just need to wait for the Horace Mann kids to get here and then we can vote on-" Liv started.

"You're very pretty, did you know that?" Richard said. "You've got my vote."

"Okaaaay. I don't know you, so can you-"

"Well, I know you. Sophomore, transferred from Monroe High, you have Ms. Valencourt for homeroom, and want to be a detective."

"Okay, that's both creepy and none of your business," Olivia snapped.

"Harsh!" Dale said. Then he started laughing like a hyena.

"Well, I'm hoping you don't have a boyfriend," he continued softly. YEESH. Take a hint-and take a hike!

"If you were so _perceptive, _you'd know I was dating Elliot Stabler. So I'm hoping you can shut up."

"Double harsh! She owned, you, man," Dale continued.

"Hey," Elliot said. Thank God. "I think the Horace Mann kids are here. Let's go grab them and we can get to work. We need to vote on a CEO."

"I nominate Olivia," Jenny said, smiling. "I don't know anything about business, and you've been taking Business Ed all year."

"Me too," Dale said. He had a crush on Jenny since the beginning of the year.

"Same," Elliot said. "Richard?"

"Oh, I'm in," he said to Olivia's boobs. She glared angrily and crossed her arms.

"So, we just need to see if the HM kids are cool with it, but let's say Liv's our CEO," Elliot continued.

"Whoo!" Jenny shouted, high fiving Olivia. "Am...am I the only person happy about this project?"

"Guys, let's go get the people from HM and get to work," Elliot insisted. They walked out to the courtyard.

"Attention!" Caitlin Belanger, the sophomore class president, announced, standing on top of the table. "Now that the two sophomore classes are together, you can meet up with your groups! You all know who you're working with, so find those people and go through the checklist in the packet you all recieved!"

"Yo, they're all over here! Hey!" a girl with a Brooklyn accent said, snapping her gum.

Jenny snickered. "Ohmigod, who's the Bavarian milkmaid?" The girl had ugly braids, frizzy hair, zits, braces, and rolled up-khakis tucked into tube socks with Crocs. She looked like she belonged on What Not To Wear. How would her parents let her walk out of the house like that?

"Now, now, let's be accepting," Olivia started. But looking at her, it was impossible to keep a straight face.

"Yo!" Bavarian milkmaid shouted. "I think you're in our group."

"Jenny!" Christina Romano shouted. "I lost you in the auditorium. What are we doing?"

"We're meeting up with the people from-"

"Hey, I'm Dani Beck," Dani interrupted casually.

"Great. Where's everyone else?"

"Over here," Dani said.

"Now that you're in your groups," Caitlin said,"you can get to work."

"All right," El said. "Our group thinks Olivia should be the C.E.O. What about you guys?"

A brown haired girl shrugged. "We didn't really talk about it."

"All in favor of Olivia, raise your hand," Jenny instructed. Her whole group raised their hands. The Horace Mann kids shrugged and raised them.

"So I guess I'm it," Oliiva said. "All right, we need to decide who should be the marketing director."

"Me," the brunette and a guy said at the same time.

"Who are you again?" Liv asked.

"Matthew."

"Kim."

"Come on, Olivia, I've been watching infomercials for years," Matthew begged. "Kim doesn't know the first thing about advertising. I know how to attract customers."

"Fine," Liv said.

"You're not being very assertive," Dale pointed out.

"Well, since you obviously know so much about being _assertive, _you can be the telemarketer!" She handed a packet to him.

Dale looked down.

"Ooooh," Kim snickered.

"Kim, you can be the treasurer," Olivia instructed. She continued to divide up the jobs. "El and I are going to work on making initial deposits but the rest of you just need to research your position. See you all on Monday."

"Wow, you were pretty B.A," Dale said, following her. "Good for you, taking charge."

"Thank you," Liv said cooly. "See you."

"Wait, Olivia, what do I do?"

"Nothing until Monday," Olivia said. She kept walking.

"I want to do something!"

"Listen, Dale." She stopped walking. "Consider this a blessing. If I say jump, you say 'How high?' If I tell you to do nothing, you do nothing. Get it? Good."

"Okay, um, thanks." Dale slunk off like a kicked puppy.

"Come on, El," Liv said.

**7 P.M**

Olivia checked off "finalize rental location" on her checklist. "We are...done for today!" she announced. Elliot hung up the phone. "Good work, employee."

"Thanks, boss," Elliot joked. Olivia tossed her "Business in Action" folder on to the desk.

"Dale is sooo obnoxious," she said.

"Wow, you're just noticing that?" Elliot said sarcastially. Liv tossed her marker at him.

"Shut up. Don't forget I can give you a pay cut!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared."

Liv giggled. "You should be. Anyway, he was like 'LIV LIV LIV LIV LIV!' Oh my God! That kid needs a muzzle."

"Tell me about it."

The front door opened. "Elliot?" Mrs. Stabler asked.

"We're home," Mr. Stabler said.

"Crap!" El said.

"What?"

"My parents are home from work early and they'll kill me if they knew you were over," Elliot said. "They're total workaholics and don't usually get home on weekends until, like, nine! Hide!"

"Where?"

"I don't know...in the closet?"

"What?" Liv hissed.

"Look, I'll text you when the coast is clear, okay?" He shut the door.

"Hi, Mom," he said.

"Hello!" Mrs. Stabler said cheerfully. "Grab your coat! There's a party at the Frick. Remember the Costamerez family? Well they have a daughter your age I'd love for you to meet. She's very driven and intelligent. Maria's her name! She's just a sweet young woman." Elliot rolled her eyes. Great, now he was being set up with some "driven, intelligent, sweet young woman." Why wasn't anything good enough for his parents.

"Well, don't dally! Come on!" she insisted.

"Sure," Elliot sighed.

Olivia waited till she heard them leave to turn the knob. But it was locked. She tried again and pushed on the door.

"El?" she called. "Okay, not cool, El!" She banged on the door, but it was still locked. What an SOB! Olivia rolled her eyes. What the hell?

*****

"Hold on a sec," Elliot said. He answered his phone. "Hello?"

"El, it's me," Olivia said, sounding pissy.

"Oh, hey, Liv. Did you make it out okay?"

"No, the door's locked!" she snapped.

"Wait...what?" El asked. He went into the hallway. "What door? The front door? You have to turn the deadbolt locks to the right."

"Um, no, El, the closet door, you know, the one you locked me in?" Olivia hissed.

"I didn't lock you in the closet, Liv! Are you crazy? It must have locked automatically. Sometimes it does that, you know."

"Well, the door certainly picked the perfect time!" Liv snapped.

Elliot looked around. "Okay, stay put, I'll come get you ASAP."

"Where else would I go?" she sighed. "Fine. See you soon."

"Mom, I gotta go," El said.

"To do what?" she asked.

"We're doing a really hard project and I want to get extra sleep," he fibbed.

"Nonsense. You can sleep in tomorrow, we're going upstate to see a string quartet. Come meet Maria." She led him over to the dining room.

"Elliot, this is Maria Costamerez." Maria had an angular face, long black hair, and was dressed like her mother, a businesswoman in training.

"Nice to meet you," Elliot said swallowing. "Um, my parents told me all about you."

Maria narrowed her eyes. "Really? They didn't tell me anything about _you_."

"Maria wants to get into business like her parents," Mr. Stabler announced happily. "What a respectable girl, don't you think?"

"Um, yeah," he said.

*****

Olivia couldn't believe it! Elliot had tricked her and locked her in his closet.

_Calm down, Liv, it probably did lock automatically, and it's not like you had plans._

She flicked on the light switch. Of course El had a light switch inside his closet and not a way out. The closet was actually pretty huge. Olivia walked around and looked at Elliot's clothes. All his stuff appeared to be designer, and it all smelled like his cologne: Polo Ralph Lauren. She looked through the racks of clothes until she heard something fall. Olivia bent down to pick up the object-a soft gray hoodie. It looked way more comfy than the annoyingly itchy-but cute-purple blazer Jenny made her wear. She pulled on the sweater. What the hell? After all, Olivia was the one locked in a closet, she could at least borrow a sweatshirt. On the floor, her phone buzzed.

_1 New Text Message: El_

_Change of plans, rents are trying to set me up with some stuffy corporate drone. I'll be home a little later, sry :(_

Olivia rolled her eyes and tossed the phone back. Scratch that, she was _definitely _taking the hoodie.

*****

Elliot rolled his eyes in exasperation. Either Maria was totally insane or didn't speak English, but she had been yabbering on about taxes for the last two hours.

"So, what's a regressive tax again?" he asked.

"You're kidding," Maria snapped. "I thought you were supposed to be smart! What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry, I've got a lot on my mind. We're working on this thing at my school, the-"

"Business in Action project. I know. I go to Horace Mann," she finished. "Isn't it awesome?" For the first time, she looked happy.

"That's not what I was thinking," Elliot said nervously.

"Its perfect. So many people lack common business knowledge." She glared at Elliot evilly. If looks could kill, Elliot would've been dead.

"Maria! Elliot! I'd like you to meet Mr. McMahon and Ms. Reynolds from the Wall Street Journal. They have some fantastic internships," Mr. Stabler pointed out.

"A pleasure," Maria said politely. A pleasure? Elliot thought. Seriously, Maria acted totally bizarre. Thank God she wasn't in his group.

*****

It was ten o'clock, and Elliot still hadn't come back yet. What was taking him so long? Olivia thought, annoyed. She was totally tired, and was looking forward to a bowl of ice cream and a "Two and a Half Men" marathon, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. Her phone buzzed again.

_1 New Text Message: Cat_

"Cat," or Catherine Marline, was one of Olivia's old Monroe friends.

_What's up Liv?_

_Ugh...locked in a closet :(_

_4 real? LOL  
_

_STOP LAFFING. Yeah for real Elliot locked me in the closet and left!_

_LMAO...did you have 2 much 2 drink?_

_SERIOUSLY!_

_OMG WTF? Y did he lock u in a closet? Thats not very nice._

_IDK. Then he went to a cocktail party!!!_

_WTF is wrong with him? U should dock his paycheck for that business u have 2 run!! XD  
_

_Believe me I will...i took his sweatshirt too!_

_HAHA good 4 u. GTG and good luck!!!_

Liv yawned. She was seriously gonna kill El now. After she got a little sleep.

**11:30 P.M**

Elliot looked around nervously. It was getting pretty late. If he didn't get Olivia soon, he would be so dead.

"You know, I think I'll head back," he said.

"Okay, honey," Mrs. Stabler said. "You have cab money and you know the number of the hotel we're staying at. Did you hit it off with Maria?"

Elliot shrugged. "She's okay."

"That's my boy," Mr. Stabler said proudly. "You'll be a real ladies man. Just like me!" He laughed.

El rolled his eyes. "Okay, Dad. Night." He hailed a cab and went to his apartment building. Elliot practically dashed to his apartment and unlocked the door. "Liv?" No answer. He went to his room and opened the closet door. Poor Livvy was curled up on the floor, asleep, wearing his gray hoodie.

"Hey, Liv," he said softly. She was actually kind of pretty asleep.

Olivia blinked twice, not realizing where she was. Finally, she realized she was in Elliot's room.

"Finally!" she snapped. "Do you know how long I've been waiting? Jesus! You locked me in your effing closet! I mean, seriously, I'm the CEO of our B in A group, and this is how you treat me?"

"I told you, it locked-"

"Accidentaly. _Sure_." She shook her head in disbelief.

"And you're wearing my hoodie!"

"What do you expect?" Liv countered. "I mean, seriously, I was stuck in your closet for three and a half hours, and now I have to walk all the way home. I swear, sometimes I don't know whether to kiss you or kill you."

Elliot grinned. "I'd go for the kiss."

Olivia rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, right, you just expect me to fall for you like that?"

"Yes, actually."

"Well, forget it!" Olivia snapped. "Right now, I just want to go home and-"

Elliot pulled her into a kiss before she could finish what she was saying. After a few moments, they looked at each other uncomfortably. Finally, Olivia laughed.

"You're still not getting a promotion, you realize," Olivia joked.

"What?" El asked, pretending to be shocked. "Pardonnez-moi?"

Olivia giggled and said something random in french.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Your cat can speak more French than you," she translated. "I know all sorts of put downs in French. I even know how to call someone an unattractive sex addict that lives with their mom."

"So do I," Elliot agreed. "Richard White."

Liv burst out laughing. "I take it you've met Senor Suave."

El rolled his eyes. "I saw him make a pass at you today."

"Someone's jealous..." Olivia teased. "Well, at least he doesn't lock people in closets."

"It locks automatically," he insisted.

"No, it doesn't, see?" Liv went into the closet and shut the door. She opened it again without a problem.

"Well, its a very bizarre door then," El said.

"Uh huh," Olivia said.

"You're actually pretty hot when you're mad," he pointed out. Olivia snorted. "Brownnoser," she said. "I can only imagine what you'll do once you have a _real_ job."

"Uh...kiss you again?"

"Nice try." Olivia smirked. "Something tells me Maria Costamerez wouldn't approve of you trying to seduce your employer."

"Something tells me that you should quit the guilt tripping," he retorted.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?" She snapped, yawning. "In case you've forgotten, SOMEONE kept me up all night."

El just stood there with a stupid grin on his face. "Hmmm, the way I remember it, you fell asleep."

"Yeah, because a closet floor's soooo comfy." She rolled her eyes and picked up her phone and Business in Action stuff.

"You're not leaving, are you?"

"Actually, I am. Strange as it seems, I would much rather be at home sleeping rather than arguing with my ridiculous boyfriend who thinks nothing of keeping people awake for no reason."

"Well, can I at least have my sweatshirt back?" he asked.

Olivia rolled her eyes again. "Um...let me think about that...NO!" She stomped outside the apartment and slammed the door.

"Wait...LIV!" he shouted, running after her. She was waiting for the elevator.

"What?" she snapped.

"Well...I'd feel bad about leaving things like this because...well, it might make for some awkward situations on Monday. Car insurance never stops for arguing couples," he said, staring at her with puppy dog eyes. Of course. No matter how pissed off she got at him, those eyes made her forget everything and...kiss him. Which is what she did.

Until that awful old lady saw them. What was her name again?

"What on Earth is the matter with you two?" she snapped. Olivia pulled away from him.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"I see you two all the time getting into all kinds of mischeif! I swear, we were never like that in our day. Can't a woman get some sleep without being interrupted for once?" She sighed and slammed the door.

"Apparently not," Elliot joked.

"I'm sorry," Liv said.

"You should be, you almost walked out on me!" he joked again. "And you won't even give me a promotion."

"Please," she said. "After all you put me through, you deserve a DEmotion."

He threw his hands up. "What did I put you through, Liv?"

"Well, aside from locking me in the closet-"

"An accident."

"You kissed me-"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Then kept me up another hour talking about random stuff."

"You took my sweatshirt," he pointed out.

"Yeah, well, now it's almost three in the morning."

"It's a Friday, it's not like we have anywhere to be in the morning."

"Still, a CEO's work is never done," Olivia said, half-serious. "I have to stay sharp."

"No need to worry about that," he muttered. Olivia flicked him. "Ouch! You're lucky I'm letting you stay here, you know."

"Lucky? I wouldn't say that. More like there wasn't any other option." She yawned and closed her eyes for a second.

"Liv," he whispered, nudging her. She fluttered her eyes but closed them again. He picked her up carefully and placed her on the bed, careful not to wake her.

"'Night," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "I love you."

She didn't respond. Once Elliot started to fall asleep, she whispered, "I love you, too."


	11. It's Nothing Personal Part 2

**A/N: Part 2 of the New Girl finale. Enjoy + review :)**

**Elliot's House**

**7:34 A.M**

_I love you, _was the last thing he had said to her before she fell asleep. And she had said it back.

Olivia blinked, opening her eyes slowly. Elliot had wrapped his arm around her and she was snuggled into him.

"El," she said. "Wake up."

Elliot opened his eyes slowly. "Morning, Liv. No 'Who, what when, where, why?'"

Olivia grinned. "Nope."

"Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"

She wrinkled her brow. "No?"

"Well, you do. If I'm not mistaken, you kept saying, 'El...I love you' half the night."

"I did not!" she laughed. "You're such a liar!"

"No, it's true, I swear," he insisted.

"Well, did you record it?"

"No, I don't put recorders in my room, Liv," he joked.

"Until I hear myself say, 'El...I love you,' I don't believe you," she said.

"Ha! You just said it!" He had that stupid smirk on his face.

"I wasn't serious!"

"It still counts! He insisted. "You looooove me, you looooove me!"

"Well, it's a good thing I actually do, or I might be mad," she said.

"Ha!" he said. "You admit it again."

"No!" she said, laughing. "Okay, fine. Are we even yet?"

"Hmm," El said. "That's not half as bad as what I did. I think I know the perfect way to make it fair."

"And what's that?"

Elliot gently pushed back her hair and delicately kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you too," he whispered.

"I know you do," she whispered.

Elliot raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really now?"

"Elliot Stabler, you are not as tough as you seem." She smiled and pulled away, but El quickly pulled her back.

"Liv, you're the one person who will forever make me weak in the knees." He kissed her. After what seemed like years, the front door opened.

"ELLIOT! I'M HOME!" Phoebe shouted.

"Oh my God," Olivia muttered. She pulled away from him.

"ELLIOT?" Phoebe screamed, banging open his door. "OM-effing-G."

"Oh, um, hi. What do you want?" he asked.

Phoebe put her hands on her hips. "Never mind what I'm doing here. What were you guys doing, exactly?"

"Liv was just…sleeping," El said. "We were working on the Business in Action project and she just…stayed over."

"Uh huh," Phoebe said in disbelief. "Suuuurre." She walked out of his room, closing the door. "TELL YOUR LITTLE FRIEND SHE CAN STAY FOR BREAKFAST."

"Thank God that's over," she groaned. "'Little friend?'"

"Phoebe's kind of bizarre," he explained.

"Believe, me, I know." Olivia rolled her eyes and smiled.

"So…" Elliot said. "Where were we?" He leaned in and kissed her again.

"I LOVE BLUEBERRY PANCAKES, DON'T YOU?" Phoebe shouted, interrupting them. "THEY'RE JUST AMAZING!"

Elliot ignored her and kept kissing Olivia.

"I LIKE RASPBERRY PANCAKES, TOO. WHAT KIND DO YOU WANT?" she asked. "HMMM?"

Elliot kept kissing her.

"ELLIOT!" She opened his door again. She ran over to them and pulled them apart, practically shoving El onto the floor. "Will you guys stop already? You're gonna make me throw up!"

"I'm sorry," he mouthed at her.

"It's fine," she mouthed back.

"Here, this is yours," Phoebe said, handing Olivia her tote bag and Business in Action stuff.

"Thanks." Olivia blushed. There was probably nothing more humiliating than being caught making out by your boyfriend's big sister.

"No problem! I couldn't decide what to make, so I just made pancakes with everything I could find."

Liv and El both slid one onto their plates.

"Oh, these look…delicious," El said, grimacing at the gross looking pancake. "What's in them?"

"Blueberries, peaches, bananas, raspberries, mint, lemon verbena, orange zest, cherries, and grapefruit."

"Oh..yum." They both tentatively took a bite.

Olivia struggled to swallow. Not only did they have every possible fruit in them, they were undercooked and slimy. She hoped Phoebe wasn't planning to be a chef.

"Yum," she whimpered, forcing a smile.

"Yeah, these are good," Elliot lied.

"Thanks! I made more!"

"Actually, we've gotta run," Liv said, looking at her watch. "Business in Action waits for no one."

Phoebe raised her eyebrow. "You think I think you're working on that all day?"

"Well, yeah."

She rolled her eyes. "So, should I be expecting you back anytime soon?"

Elliot grabbed his bag. "Bye, Phoebs."

"I guess that's a no." She smirked. "Bye. Just be back before six on Sunday because that's when Mom and Dad get back from the symphony."

*****

"I always come here and feed the ducks," Olivia said, tossing a piece of Wonder Bread to the ducks.

"Me too!" Elliot said. "Just another thing we have in common."

"Hey, guys," a brunette girl said. "Elliot! Oh my God!"

"Jessica?" Elliot said. "I didn't know you were in town."

"Everyone calls me Jess now," the girl said. "I am. We're visiting my grandma before camp! Sorry. I tried to call you. Oh, hey," she said to Liv. "I'm Jess Grillman."

"Olivia Benson," she said, introducing herself. "I'm going to camp too. El convinced me."

"Nice to meet you!" Jess exclaimed. "And it's great to see you again!" Her phone beeped. "Oops, gotta go. See you!" She waved.

"That's Jessica Grillman. She's a bit…hyper," Elliot explained. "Last year, we played this game, and she got caught and threatened to prosecute them for criminal negligence. She wants to be a lawyer."

"Sounds like she'd get along with Alex!" Liv joked. "I'm sure we'll be great friends. After all I'd be the one pressing charges!"

Elliot laughed. "You should've seen her. Now that I think of it, she reminds me a lot of you."

Olivia watched her walk away. "Yeah, she does."

"Hi, guys!" someone else said. Olivia looked up. Dale was here, too. "I was hoping to run into you guys! I did a lot of great work!"

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other. Just to make sure, Olivia went back and looked at her notepad.

"Stuckey-TBD" she had written. She had definitely told Dale not to do anything.

"I designed an advertisement and rented some furniture for the office space we were assigned."

"Dale," Olivia said calmly. "Do you remember what I told you Friday?"

"What?" Dale asked blankly.

"To wait and I'd tell you what you could do on Monday. Why would you do all this without checking with me?"

"I tried to! But your phone was off!" Dale said, his voice rising nervously. "Look, I just wanted to help, okay? The furniture's really nice."

"We put Matthew Parker in charge of advertising, remember?" Elliot snapped. "Weren't you just gonna answer phones and take notes?"

"Well, I was just-" Dale started.

"Did you know everything you say has 'I' or 'Me' in it? Don't you think of anyone but yourself for once? Are you twelve or something?"

"No!" Dale said. "I really didn't want to do anything wrong, I just thought that-"

"Here we go." Elliot rolled his eyes.  
"El, seriously?" Liv snapped. "Dale, it's okay. This way, we get a head start. See, problem solved."

"Thanks, Olivia," he said, as if she had found the cure to cancer. "You're the best person I've ever known! Nobody's ever that nice to me."

"I wonder why," El muttered. Liv gently stomped on his foot. "Ow!"

"Well, thanks! Glad to help!" Dale said. "Hey, I don't have anything to do. Can I hang out with you guys?"

"Sure," Olivia said, even though Elliot glared at her. "So, where do you live?"

"I live on 65th and Madison," Dale answered. "My mom is a senator and my father works on Wall Street."

Olivia nodded. She had definitely seen the "Cecila Stuckey for Senate!" campaign posters all over the city. "Cool," she said.

"So, I was thinking I could show you what I did with the office space?"

"I don't know," Elliot said, a little harsher than necessary.

"Oh, come on. It's only two blocks," he begged. "Please?"

"Oh, okay," Olivia said. Dale walked a little faster. Once he was out of earshot, Elliot leaned closer to her.

"What was that for?" he hissed.

"He's not that bad and I'm the CEO, not YOU!" she hissed back.

"Come on!" Dale insisted. Liv and El followed them to a nondescript 5th avenue building, where their rented office space was. "Liv, do you have a key?"

"Yep." She pulled a key from her bag and opened the door.

"Bing, bang, bong!" he announced, showing them inside. He actually had done a pretty good job with the place. The furniture was in decent condition.

"But the real test will be when it's full of customers," Liv pointed out.

**Monday**

Their first day had gotten off without a hitch. Thanks to Dale's unexpected support, they were already prepared for the customers. Not that there were many. After all, who would buy car insurance from a bunch of teenagers doing a school project? But there were still enough to be overwhelming. And it didn't help that Richard White needed to keep his eyes to himself and Dale kept poking his head in every two seconds.

"What else can I do?" Richard asked, staring at Liv's chest. Um…not _that_.

"Okay, that's enough!" Olivia snapped, throwing some papers down on her desk.

"Enough what?"

"I have had it with your creepiness. Since we got in, you've been staring at my chest. What is wrong with you?" she hissed.

"I can't help it if you're-"

"Richard, _shut up._" She snapped.

"Olivia!" Matthew Parker (who seemed to have a fixation of fish. Not only had he brought tuna for lunch, he said "Oh, fish" instead of "darn it" or "crap" like everyone else and thought it was a good insult) shouted. "Nobody wants to wear the Geico gecko suit and stand on the sidewalk, but someone's got to."

"Richard'll do it," she said quickly.

"What?" he hissed.

"Do it or I'll tell Headmistress Queller why I had to fire you," she insisted.

"Fine," Richard said dejectedly.

"Thanks a ton," Matthew said.

"Liv!" Dale said, "We've got a broken air conditioner. I'm calling Donnelly Plumbing right now."

"Dale!" Olivia said, jumping up. "You don't call plumbing for a busted air conditioner. We got the air conditioner from Sears, so call Sears. In the mean time, get Kim to see if she can snag a couple of fans."

"Hi, Liv," Elliot, a.k.a the human resources director, said, sauntering into Liv's "office."

"Hey, El," she said, filing the last of the customers into a cabinet. "What's up?"

"I'm done with the evaluations you asked me to do," he announced. "I thought maybe we could take a walk to the park or something."

"Sorry, El, but just because you're done doesn't mean we all are. While we're here, we're business partners," she insisted.

"You're no fun."

"Maybe, I don't care right now." She fanned herself with a manila folder.

"Olivia, I got the fans you asked, and Kenmore is on its way," Kim Greyleck said.

"Great, thank god," she said. Jenny walked in and dropped more customer files.

"I gave all these people quotes and set them up for a plan."

"Good job," she said absentmindedly. "Hey, El, can you help alphabetize these? I want to explode and it's only the second day!"

"Sure." They both placed all the files in their appropriate location.

"So, CEO's not all it's cracked up to be?" Elliot asked.

"Actually, it is. I totally called Richard on his creepiness back there. In fact, I made him wear the Gecko suit."

"That kid deserves it." He shook his head. "We'd all be better off without those people."

"No kidding. Hey, you don't really think I'm no fun, do you?"

Elliot nudged her foot with his. "Oh, no, you're _lots _of fun."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Elliot Stabler, I'm not sure that's appropriate work behavior."

"Oh, who cares?" he joked.

She gently tapped his arm with a pencil. "Uh, me? Because I want to get a good grade on this project?"

"Well, you're making it very hard to be appropriate with you." He grinned.

"Then I suggest you get back to work!" She said, fake-annoyed. "Yanno, like everyone else."

"Bye, Liv."

"Bye!" Liv said before she shut the door. Finally a moment to herself.

"Olivia! The Kenmore guy wants you to sign for the new air conditioner!" Dale shouted, as if they were in a football field.

"Be right there," she called back, rolling her eyes.

*****

"Thank God that's over," Liv sighed as she and Elliot walked down the street. "I never thought a project could be so exhausting.

"It is with Dale Stuckey involved," Elliot joked.

"Be nice," she said, giggling.

"What, is he your new boyfriend?" El teased.

"I don't know, is Dani Beck your new girlfriend?" she retorted. "She was following you around."

"Was she? I didn't notice," Elliot said. "She's kind of annoying. At least you didn't have to have a desk next to Candice. I wouldn't be surprised if her picture was next to 'annoying' on Urbandictionary."

"I know, right? How do you think it is, dealing with someone sticking their nose in the door every two seconds?" Olivia said. "Ah, work. If we're like this now, what will we be like when we actually have careers?"

"Good question," El joked. "Aside from this, school's pretty much over. Jess is already out of school. Stupid Upper East Siders and their 'motivation.'"

"Now, now, a little motivation never hurt anyone."

"True," he agreed. "After all, if I hadn't been motivated to pick up your books that day, we wouldn't be here, would we?"

"Well, that's just common courtesy," Liv pointed out. "You should do that for anyone."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't kiss just anyone, now would I?"

"Or would you?" Liv joked as she swiped her key card to enter her apartment building.

"Oh, no you didn't," Elliot said in a faux-diva voice.

"Yeah, I did!" she said. "And you can't do anything about it cuz I'd have to deduct it from your paycheck."

"Oooh, harsh!" he joked. They stepped into the elevator.

"You're still here," Liv said in astonishment, as if she just noticed him.

"Why, yes, I am. I'm always here, Liv. Haven't you figured that out by now?"

"Stalker," she whispered.

"I am not a stalker," he insisted.

"All signs point to yes," she joked.

"And how is that?" They stepped out of the elevator.

"Well, you're always around me, you show up at random times, and Lord knows we can't forget the whole closet incident," she explained, swiping the key card a second time to let her in. "Anyway, the real question is, what did you accomplish today?"

Elliot sat down and pulled out a folder. "I did a general evaluation of the work attitude like you told me to and made sure to take note of Richard White's infraction."

"Good job," Liv praised. "You make a great co worker."

"As do you," El agreed. "So what did you accomplish?"

"Everything," Liv sighed. "I'm so tired."

"Wow your apartment's bigger than I remember," Elliot said. "Where's your mom?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Some professor's conference in Minnesota. She left a couple days ago."

"So it's just been you? At home? Alone?"

"Yes, El, considering the only other family I have lives in New Hampshire, I've been here. At home. Alone."

"That's terrible," Elliot said. "I mean, you could always stay at my place, but my parents might have a problem with that. I could stay here for a while."

Olivia was shocked. "Um…that's okay. I really don't need any help."

"Come on, Liv," El insisted. "It's not like my parents will notice-they're always out. And even if you don't need the help, do you really want to be here for days without _anyone _for company?"

"Well, when you put it that way," she giggled. "I guess you can stay here for a while. What harm could it do?"

Elliot shrugged. "No harm at all, babe, and you will never be in harm as long as I can still hold you in my arms."

Liv snorted. "Babe? Who wrote your lines?"

"Olivia, you're the only one worth these promises, they're not lines. You're the only girl I'd risk everything for."

"You mean, risking getting your parents mad at you to help me out?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah. I don't care if they get mad at me. I'd give everything I had for you," he said seriously, looking into her eyes.

"You're so sweet," Liv said, hugging him. He gently kissed her forehead.

"I could definitely get used to living here," Elliot joked.

"I could get used to you living here, too," she agreed with a smile.

"Well, I don't think we'll be able to live together for good as of now," El said, sounding disappointed. "But soon we'll be able to wake up to one another and spend every night together."

"What about your parents?" Liv asked.

"Who cares about them? I'm gonna do whatever it takes to be with you. They can't keep you away from me."

"Why don't they like me?" She looked at him. "What did I ever do to them?"

"Well…" El hesitated.

"Oh, just tell me, I can handle it."

"They think you're 'cheap' just because you don't live on Park Avenue. It's ridiculous. Sure, most of the other people I went out with have been super-rich, but I've never felt the way about anyone else that I have about you."

"So, why don't you just tell them how you feel?" Olivia scrunched up her nose.

Elliot shook his head. "You don't know them. Once they decide on something, it is very hard to change their minds. Especially my mom. I just want them to see what you mean to me." After he said that, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the lips, catching Olivia off guard. "I don't know how, but I'll make them see somehow. Want to go watch a movie?" They both looked out the window at the setting sun.

"Sure," Olivia said. "I'm warning you, I may fall asleep. I'm pretty wiped out."

"Which movie do you want to watch?" El asked.

"Hmm, how about 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days?'" Liv suggested. "If you think you can handle a chick flick."

"Of course I can," El fake-scoffed as he put the DVD in Liv's TV.

Olivia flopped down on her bed and closed her eyes. Why was she so tired all of a sudden? Sure, the project had been exhausting, but she felt like she was coming down with something.

"Liv?" Elliot whispered. Olivia opened her eyes. "Oh, sorry. You can go back to sleep if you like. You don't look so good."

"Thanks." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, you look really pale. Are you feeling okay?"

"Actually, I'm feeling a little under the weather," Liv admitted. Elliot rubbed her arm.

"Let me know if you need anything," he said. She smiled softly and drifted off to sleep.

*****

Oiivia woke up the next morning feeling awful. There was no way she could go to school today. Elliot was gone, no surprise there. After all, if she looked as horrible as she felt, nobody would want to be in a three mile radius of her. She sighed and pulled the blankets back over her.

"Olivia?" Elliot asked. He obviously had taken a shower and gotten ready for school. She glanced at the clock, which read 9:10 A.M. She was going to be late!

"El?" she said weakly. "Morning. I don't feel so well."

"You feel really warm," he said. "Here." He passed her a bottle of Motrin and some water. "I also made you some toast. Don't worry, I called the school and told them you weren't feeling well."

"How'd you know?" she asked.

"You had a high fever last night," Elliot explained. "If you want, I could stay home with you."

"No, you should go. Someone's got to do a good job on this project. Speaking of, take my notebook. You and Jenny can divide my work," she told him. Elliot nodded and kissed her forehead gently. "I wouldn't get too close to me unless you want what I have."

"I don't mind," he said. "I'd better go. Feel better, sweetie."

"Bye, El," she said before falling back asleep again.

*****

Around early afternoon, she called Elliot.

"Hi, Liv," he answered immediately.

"Hey, El," she said. "How are things over there?"

"Ugh…same old, same old," he said. "What about you?"

"Still bad, but a little better," she responded. "I'm sure I'll be feeling better by tomorrow. Did you do everything in my checklist?"

"Yes, ma'am," he joked.

She laughed. "I think I'm going to take another nap. See you later, okay?"

"Bye."

*****

By the time Elliot got home, she was starting to feel a little better. Her fever had almost disappeared, and she was only a little bit dizzy.

"Come in," she called from the living room, where she was watching _Wife Swap _reruns. It was almost five. What had taken him so long?

"I brought Chinese food!" he called.

"Yum," Olivia said, walking over to the door. "Thanks. I'm feeling much better, actually."

"That's good." Elliot grinned and kissed her on the cheek.

"Look, El, I really appreciate all of this, but when are you planning on going home? Like you said, you can't stay here forever."

"I haven't really thought of that," El admitted.

"Well, you should," she insisted. "Sorry, but sooner or later your parents will catch on or my mom will come back from the conference."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Just not this second, okay? I got hot and sour soup!"

"My favorite!" Liv said as she grabbed some bowls. "And I'm starving. I barely had anything all day."

"Same! I had a granola bar and a handful of jelly beans."

"Well, I had a piece of dry toast," Liv one-upped. "Beat that."

"I don't think I can!" Olivia giggled.

"Ha!" she exclaimed.

El raised an eyebrow. "Well, someone's feeling better."

"Yes, I am. I'm always okay when you're here."

"That's the only thing that matters. You know I love you."

Olivia smirked. "I love me too. Want to watch a movie?"

"I would, but only if you promise not to fall asleep again," he joked. "You're not the most lively company when you're asleep, yanno."

"Don't worry, I won't. I hope you didn't watch the rest of 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' without me."

Elliot smiled as he put his arm around her. "You know me, Liv. Would I do something like that? Seriously, I didn't. I figured you would want to watch it, and I never saw it, so I didn't want to know what happened ahead of time."

"I've seen it about, oh, eight times?" Liv laughed. "It's one of my favorites. I love movies. When I was ten, I woke up at five every morning to watch 'Freaky Friday.' That was when she was still around, of course," she said quietly.

"When did she start going away?" El asked as Liv put the DVD in.

"When I was about thirteen or so. Luckily, I lived in a cul-de-sac with my friends so I could just stay over at one of their houses. I tried to alternate between Sophie, Karlie, Catherine, and Danielle's so none of them knew how bad it was," she admitted.

"Who's Danielle?"

"Danielle McCarthy. One of my other friends. Anyway, I think they all knew how bad it was, but didn't want to say anything. She could be gone for a day or weeks on end. Sometimes I'd just stay at home by myself. I have a job, so it wasn't that hard to be independent, but something was always missing."

"Where do you work?" Elliot asked.

"I used to work at the Grove Café, a little coffee shop in town. Now I work at Tina's Boutique in Columbus Circle. Jenny helped me get a job there. Plus she leaves me money on the counter."

"Liv, you have to tell someone," he insisted. "What are you going to do, live on your own for the next two years?"

"It's not as hard as it seems," Olivia said. "She pays all the bills online, so I don't have to worry about that. And it's not like I'm living _alone_. She was here for the past two weeks. She just…lives here part-time. Plus I could just stay with Jenny. Her family helped Nate Archibald out last year."

"You shouldn't have to that. I'm sure if you told my parents what was going on, they'd help you out."

"Maybe. I'll think about it," she said vaguely. Just another thing they'd talk about later.

Elliot sighed. "Liv, you can't pretend everything's okay when it's not."

"But everything is!" Olivia snapped. "You don't even _live _here, how can you judge my situation?"

"You're only sixteen, and you're practically supporting yourself!" Elliot yelled. "How can you say you're fine?!"

"Because I am! Maybe you spoiled rich Upper East Side-West, whatever-kids need someone to help them every step of the way, but I'm not like everyone else here, okay?" she snapped.

"First of all, I'm not spoiled rich, and I don't need someone to help me every step of the way, but nobody should have to live on their own when they're in high school!"

"I'm not living alone!" she yelled. "You know what? Why don't you just leave?"

"I'm not leaving till you get someone to help you!" Elliot shouted.

"Maybe I don't want your help!" But as soon as she said that, she realized she did need his help. What did she gain from being completely egotistical and not letting anyone help her when she really did need someone's help. Her mom was gone all the time, and even though she paid the bills and left money and food for Olivia, it really wasn't good to be living on your own. "El, I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I really didn't mean that. In fact, I wouldn't blame you if you completely hated me right now."

"I don't hate you, Liv," he said. "I shouldn't have pushed it. But you'll let me stay with you for a little while, right?"

Olivia nodded. "I don't mind. I'm really sorry."

"It's fine, it's fine," Elliot reassured her. "Let's go watch a movie or something."

"Well, we never did see the rest of 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,'" Olivia pointed out.

*****

One thing about Olivia that was slightly annoying (besides her tendency to push stuff under the rug) was that she talked through the whole movie.

"I can't believe her. 'Our love fern! You let it die!'" she said with contempt once the movie was over. "Talk about clingy. I mean, _what?_" Olivia laughed.

"I know, right? Wow, it's pretty late."

"Yeah, it is. We should go to bed if we ever want to make it in tomorrow,"

He held her hand gently. "Well, good night then," he said, kissing her softly. "See you in the morning." He watched her fall asleep. When he was sure she was fully asleep, he lied down next to her.

"'Night," she whispered, smiling. "I love you. Forever and ever."

**A FEW DAYS LATER**

"We did it!" Olivia shouted as she closed the doors of their makeshift office behind them. "Great job, guys!"

"I guess you might be considering a career in business?" El joked.

"Nah," Liv shrugged. "Running a company isn't all it's cracked up to be. Just look at Bart Bass, that uber-creepy senior's dad."

"He's dead," Elliot reminded her.

"Exactly."

"Headmistress Queller's gonna announce who had the largest profit this afternoon," Dale announced.

"No, really?" Dani Beck said, snapping her gum and rolling her eyes. Funny, it was the first time she hadn't been making googly-eyes at Elliot. Olivia had moved her across the "building" which was really a tiny first floor apartment type setup to keep her away from him. Sure, it was petty, but better safe than sorry.

"Yeah, I guess you knew that already," Dale said meekly. Olivia really did feel sorry for the guy. He didn't seem to have too many friends, and he was kind of babyish. But he had a good heart.

"Hey, why don't we all go out to dinner down at the beach tonight?" Olivia suggested. "You know, to celebrate a job well done."

"I know I'm in," Richard White said. Ick. Another creep she had to move. He and Dani should hook up, Liv thought. That would take care of the two of them. Everyone else shrugged and nodded.

"I'll come. Why not, right?" Dale said. "If everyone's going."

"Cool! How about, Maricelli's near Jones Beach at seven," she suggested. Maricelli's was this hip new bar/restaurant that had just opened. Apparently, their food was pretty good, and it was either that or one of those sketchy, dirty hippie places that served corn dogs and fried clams. Ew. "I'll make a reservation." She turned the corner and walked into the big doors of the Constance Billard/St. Jude's assembly hall. Olivia had definitely gotten used to it. In fact, she might even like it here. She made a few friends and while she had more drama than she bargained for, she also found the guy she loved and a best friend.

"All right, settle down," Ms. Queller announced. Everyone sat down. "I was going to give the letter of recommendation to the person who earned the most money," she started. "But then I thought that wouldn't be very fair. After all, some companies work hard and never make a penny. So instead, I sent the evaluations to Suze Orman to determine who worked the hardest." Everyone started to murmur.

"Quiet," she commanded. "Here is what she wrote: 'After a slightly rocky start, I feel that the students who ran a branch of Geico Car Insurance deserve the letter. They worked as a team to overcome their obstacles, and good chemistry is what makes a good company.'"

"That's us!' Elliot whispered to her.

Olivia couldn't stop grinning.

"Congratulations to everyone on a job well done on this final project. I'm sure you'll make wonderful juniors. See you all in the fall." Everyone started cheering as they exited the big doors for the last time.

"Finally!" Olivia said. "We're done!"

"It's about time." Elliot grinned and hugged her. "I love you."

"I know." Olivia grinned. "Love you too. Come on. I've gotta go get changed and then we're off to the beach!"

"Right behind you. You wouldn't think I'd let you leave me behind?"

"I wouldn't leave you behind anyway."

**Maricelli's**

**7:30 P.M**

"Thank God I called ahead," Olivia said, sipping her pina colada and looking around at the crowded restaurant.

"No kidding," Elliot said quietly.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, Dani Beck keeps staring at me," he complained. "I don't even like her! She's hideous, for one, kind of a bitch, and I've already got someone."

"What do you have to do to get her to leave you alone, anyway?" Olivia wondered out loud.

"This," Elliot whispered. Before Olivia had time to react, he pulled her towards him and kissed her.

"Jesus Christ," a woman said not so quietly. Her daughter started coughing. "Have a little dignity."

Elliot and Olivia rolled their eyes. Dani had long disappeared, thank God.

"Come on," Elliot said, grabbing her hand. "I used to come here all the time when I was younger. I want to show you something."

"Sure," Olivia said, grabbing her sweater. It got pretty chilly at the beach at night. Elliot lead her to a part of the beach covered with rocks.

"We can't go up there now, but during the daytime you can walk along the rocks and get a great view of the city. Well, we still get a great view of the city."

Olivia sat down on the sand and looked out on the twinkling lights. "You know, I didn't think I'd like it here at first, but now I love it here. It's all thanks to you and Jenny, actually. I mean, who else wants to be friends with the girl who confronted Blair Waldorf on her first day?"

"Anyone with half a brain," Elliot joked, brushing her hair off her face. "Nobody else would've done that. You're really special. And you're beautiful too. That's why I love you."

"Thanks." She wrapped her arms around him. "I love you, Elliot Stabler."

"You too, Olivia Benson."

*****

Olivia woke up on the sand with Elliot's arm around her. What the…? Why on earth had she fallen asleep on the beach? The sun was shining and people were starting to set up their towels and chairs. She fished through her rumpled cardigan's pockets for her phone. It was already 9:14! "El," she said, shaking him awake.

"Oh! Morning!" They both stood up.

"What time is it?" El asked.

"About 9: 15. We should really go. I'll get my car." As most city teenagers didn't know how to drive, including Elliot, Olivia offered to drive them both to the beach. She had barely used her car since getting to the city. Her hair was a knotted mess, and she looked, well, like she had just slept on sand, but Elliot still put his arm around her like she was the most beautiful person in the world.

"I still can't believe you can't drive," Olivia said jokingly as she paid the parking garage attendant and got her car. "I'm a few months younger than you, and you still can't drive! That's insane! I have to teach you this summer," she insisted.

"Nobody in the city drives." El shrugged. "My mom always says I can always learn when I'm older."

"That's stupid. You have to drive!" Liv said as she drove out of the garage.

"Once we get back to the city, you can teach me," Elliot promised. "What radio stations do you have?"

"I get satellite," Olivia answered.

"No way! There's a show tunes station?" he asked in disbelief. He put it on. "This is awesome!" They sung along to "Mamma Mia," "What Is This Feeling?" "I Feel Pretty" and a ton of other songs in the drive back to the city.

"Can we stop at my place?" Elliot asked.

"Sure," Olivia answered. Elliot turned the key and opened the door.

"Elliot! We've been worried sick!" Elliot's mom exclaimed, grabbing him.

"You didn't think we'd notice you were gone a week?" she hissed. "We called everyone we knew. And what have I told you about being around that Olivia girl?"

"Mom, Dad, will you just listen to me for a second!" he yelled. They quieted down. "Look," he said quieter, "you guys have to trust me when I tell you this. I love her. I was staying with her because her mom has some issues and goes away for days, even weeks, at a time. She's really special. I know that accepting her will take some time, but I want you to be happy for me that I found someone who makes me so happy and you will like her if you give her a chance.

"You saw her for, what, an hour and you're automatically judging her by her money. She's such a nice person even if she isn't the richest. I love her more than anything! She means so much to me and all I want is for you to accept her," he finished.

Elliot's parents looked at each other.

"Her mother really disappears for weeks on end?" his mom said in disbelief. "That's horrible."

"Son, I'm sorry," Mr. Stabler said. "We never really gave her a chance."

"If only I could have known what she was going through. I apologize. I'd love to get to know her," Mrs. Stabler agreed. "And if you want, you can stay with her until her mom comes back. She's always welcome here, too. Anything we can do to help."

"Thanks so much," he said. "Liv?" he called. Olivia was out in the hallway.

"Look, I'm clearly getting in the way between you and your parents. I don't want to-"

"Liv, it's fine," he promised. "They said they'd give you a chance. They also said that I could stay over with you until your mom came back, and that you were always welcome here."

"Really?" she asked.

"I promise. I meant what I said. I love you," he said.

"I love you too."

_Gossip Girl Voiceover: The start of summer always leads to something new. In this case, E and O have finally come to terms with their relationship. It's been a wild year, but I'm ready to say adieu. See you next fall, and I'll always be watching…_

_XO XO,_

_Gossip Girl_

**TWENTY YEARS LATER  
**

Elliot Stabler watched as his partner, Olivia Benson, packed up her stuff for the day. She had been depressed since she had gone undercover the previous year. Did something really happen to her?

He remembered how close they were in high school. They'd stayed up late talking and watching movies all the time. It had taken a while for his parents to accept her, but once they got to know her, they began to see her for the beautiful person she was.

Elliot remembered an article he had once read. "How To Rekindle Old Flames." Maybe he could get her to watch a movie with him and they could pick back off where they left off at the end of senior year. Or maybe they would have to take things slow. Either way, he was sure they could become the happy people they once were in high school.

"Hey, Liv…"

**A/N: OMG!! YAY I'm finally DONE with "The New Girl!" Be sure to read "High School Never Ends" and review both stories!!! I only have to post 1 chapter of HSNE then I will work on the sequel, which will be called "Love the One You're With" and will be a bit shorter but way more scandalous!!! Sorry for the slow updates I'm super busy!!! Please review!! Thanks to all my reviewers for hanging in there and being loyal fans. **


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